New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to hand over what it called the "undisputed" land in Ayodhya to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas or the trust overseeing the Ram temple plan, long a flashpoint for minority Muslims.
The government, under immense pressure from its Hindu base to build a Ram temple on a site where zealots demolished Babri Masjid, a 16th century historic mosque, said land around the disputed site could be given to the trust while the court decided the title suit.
“A large part of the remaining superfluous land comprises properties of which the title is not even in dispute,” the government said in asking the judges to allow the land transfer.
The Supreme Court had ordered status quo on around 67 acres of land that was acquired by the government in 1993, a year after Babri Masjid demolition on December 06, 1992.
"We want to give the land back to the Janmabhoomi Nyas, they want to build a temple there; that land has to be given back to them. The centre is not touching the disputed area where the title suit is pending," said union minister Prakash Javadekar.
"The BJP always believed that the temple has already been built and it has to be made magnificent," he added.
The Supreme Court was to hear the Ayodhya title suit today but the hearing was cancelled because one of the judges, Justice SA Bobde, was not available for medical reasons.
The move coming barely two months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections has given rise to a new war of words between the government and the opposition parties with the CPI (M) calling it a “devious” effort to “pre-empt” the decision of the Supreme Court.
“The politburo of CPI(M) expresses its strong disapproval of the petition moved by the central government in the Supreme Court to remove the status quo in the non-disputed land that it had acquired in Ayodhya. It wants to handover the land to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas that has been set up by VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) to undertake the construction of the Ram temple at the site,” the Left party said in an official statement.
“The Centre now claims that only 0.313 acres is actually disputed. This move of the centre is clearly aimed at appeasing the Sangh Parivar which is demanding immediate construction of the temple at all costs. Obviously, all these moves are being orchestrated keeping the impending Lok Sabha elections in mind,” the statement said.
The main opposition party Congress maintained silence on the matter. But, party spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi told a news channel that the BJP is resorting to deflection of prevailing issues ahead of polls and that the Supreme Court should be allowed to announce a verdict as it is already hearing the land dispute case from all sides.
In his reaction to the move, AIMIM Chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the government’s latest proposal on the Ayodhya dispute was aimed at shoring up its base.
“Threatening the judicial process like this is another (failed) attempt to save BJP from their rapidly diminishing political fortunes,” said Asaduddin Owaisi.
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