Stones for Ram temple begin to arrive in Ayodhya

Lucknow: Three trucks, loaded with red stones, rolled into Ramsevak Puram in Ayodhya on Wednesday. The stones that are being brought from Rajasthan are to be carved for the proposed Ram temple. 

The carving of stones is being done under the supervision of Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, headed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, one of the accused in the Babri mosque demolition case.

The previous Akhilesh government in Uttar Pradesh imposed restrictions on the import of stones in December 2015, but now that a “friendly” government is in place in Uttar Pradesh, the restrictions have been lifted.

VHP’s media advisor Sharad Sharma said that earlier on June 19, two trucks of stones had been brought in for the same purpose.

The state commercial tax department in the previous regime had stopped Ram Janamb-hoomi Nyas from bringing sandstones from Rajasthan, citing the “status quo” ordered by the Supreme Court at the disputed site.

“From June this year, the department has started giving Form 39 that allows bringing of stones from other states. It is happening because the new government is dedicated to lord Ram, cow and nation,” the VHP leader said. He said that arrival of sandstones would continue in the future, too.

The VHP has announced that the construction of the temple on the disputed site would start within a year. 

The increase in activity at Ramsevak Puram is an indication of this. Ramsevak Puram is about 500 metres away from the workshop where carving of stones is being done.

According to the VHP leader, hundreds of such trucks filled with construction materials for the Ram temple would arrive in the coming days.

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, head of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, said that, “Stones were being brought because temple construction would begin soon.” 

“The Modi government is at the Centre and the Yogi government is in UP. No one can stop temple construction now. More stones will be arriving in the coming days,” he said.

Faizabad divisional commissioner Manoj Misra, the ex-officio receiver of the Babri Masjid appointed by the Supreme Court, said, “The import of stones by the VHP has not been banned either by any court or by any authority and they are keeping the stones in their private premises, away from the disputed site.

Meanwhile, Khaliq Ahmad Khan, a party to the case from the Babri side said, “We will protest the arrival of stones and  we will approach the receiver of Babri site and demand that the arrival of stones be stopped”.

“The Muslim community is living in fear, one can easily relate this time to the times of 1947 when partition happened, and the VHP’s increasing illegal activities in Ayodhya are demoralising the minority community. When the matter is before the court, such activities are openly a contempt of court and it must be stopped,” he added.

Meanwhile, VHP leaders said that at least 1.75 lakh cubic feet of stones were required to build the temple as per its proposed design. Since 1990, around 1 lakh cubic feet of stones has been purchased. The plan is to build a 268-foot long, 140-foot wide and 128-foot high two-storey temple, topped by a shikhar (dome).