Ayodhya issue can't be solved by mediation, says Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Asking the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to bring an ordinance and begin construction of the temple, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said that the dispute over the Ram janmabhoomi site was not only a land issue but also an emotional issue and could not be resolved through mediation.

The Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana that Lord Ram was in exile in his own country and he would have to carry out a discussion with mediators for his own land admeasuring 1,500 square feet.

“The lord has also climbed up the staircase of the court and even Lord Ram hasn’t been spared the clutches of the law. Who should be held responsible for this?” the editorial questioned.

Attacking the ruling BJP, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said that the construction of the Ram temple had become a “football” in the past 25 years for politicians and the court, and this was not good for the ruling parties which claimed to be pro-Hindutva.

The Sena said that there was no dispute over the birthplace of Lord Ram but over the exact place in Ayodhya where he was born. The party said that the devotees of Babar had made a noise over it.

It also said that the Supreme Court had pushed ahead the decision over the Ram janmabhoomi dispute and the decision about construction of the Ram temple would happen only after the Lok Sabha elections.

The party said, "The only question is that if the issue could be resolved through mediation, why did the dispute continue for 25 years and why did hundreds of people have to lose their lives."

The Sena said that when over so many years when politicians, governments and the Supreme Court had been unable to resolve the issue, what would mediators be able to achieve now. The party said that the deaths of hundreds of kar sevaks over this issue could not be forgotten, and pointed out that the dispute was over a piece of land measuring 1500 square feet and not over the remaining 63 acres of land.