Babri mosque demolished in 17 mins, how long will govt take for temple ordinance: Raut

A day before Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray arrives here, the party raised the pitch over the Ram temple issue, with its leader Sanjay Raut asking the government as to how long it will take to bring an ordinance to build temple at the site where the Babri mosque was "demolished in 17 minutes by Ram bhakts".

"The Babri mosque was demolished in 17 minutes... in about half an hour what needed to be done was done by the Ram bhakts...the blot which was there since years was brought down ," Raut told reporters, referring to the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

"How long does it take to prepare papers... to bring ordinance... from the Rashtrapati Bhawan to Uttar Pradesh Assembly. They are all BJP governments," the Shiv Sena leader said.

Earlier today, the Sena, which is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) but has had strained ties with ally BJP, demanded that the central government come out with an ordinance and declare a date for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ayodhya tomorrow amid a clamour among Hindu outfits for bringing an ordinance to build Ram Temple.

Shiv Sena, which is the part of the BJP-led governments in both Maharashtra and the Centre, has been aggressively pushing for the construction of Ram temple since the party's annual Dussehra rally.

The party has often taunted its ally BJP over the latter's "failure" to construct the temple in the last four years despite coming to power.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena said it neither moves around with a begging bowl asking for votes in the name of Lord Ram nor does it indulge in "jumlebaazi" (rhetoric) during polls.

"Why did those, who call themselves pro-Hindutva, start getting a stomach ache when we announced our plans of going to Ayodhya? We are not going there for political purposes," it said.

While slamming the BJP, the Sena said those in power should be proud of Shiv Sainiks who had "destroyed Babur's raj in Ram Janmabhoomi". The Babri Masjid was built in Ayodhya on the orders of Mughal emperor Babur.

It claimed the party had not given the slogan "Chalo Ayodhya", but Shiv Sainiks were going there for Lord Ram's 'darshan' and also because Ayodhya is "nobody's private place".

"There is no Ram raj there now, but the raj of the Supreme Court. However, in 1992, Balasaheb's Shiv Sainiks had destroyed Babur's raj in Ram Janmabhoomi. Instead of being scared and jealous of such Sainiks, those in power should be proud of them," the Sena editorial claimed.

It said that instead of casting aspersions on the motive of Sainiks going to Ayodhya, the government should declare a date for the construction of the temple and put all suspicions to rest.

Vishva Hindu Parishad's 'dharam sabha' (religious conclave) is also slated to be held here on Sunday, which, the outfit claims, is likely to be attended by about one lakh people.