Uttar Pradesh Minister Mukut Bihari Verma on Saturday claimed that the Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya because “the Supreme Court is ours”, Hindustan Times reported.
“Mandir hamara aradhya hai .. mandir banega .. mandir bananey ki liye hum log sankalpbadh hai (Temple is our resolve. It will surely come up and we are all committed to it),” Verma told journalists in Bahraich.
When he was reminded the Supreme Court is yet to deliver the verdict, the Bahraich lawmaker said, “Supreme Court main hain tabhi toh! .. Supreme Court bhi toh hamara hi hai na, Supreme Court bhi hamara hai … nyay palika bhi hamari hai .. Vidhan Palika bhi hamari hai .. yeh desh bhi hamara hai .. mandir bhi hamara hai (yes, precisely because the matter is with Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is ours, isn’t it? The judiciary is ours, the country is ours and the temple is ours too).”
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In 1992, the Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindutva activists, claiming that the mosque was constructed after demolishing a Ram temple that originally stood there. The apex court is hearing appeals against the judgement of the Allahabad High Court, which in 2010 ruled a three-way split — Sunni Waqf Board, the Hindu organisation Nirmohi Akhara, and the deity Ram Lalla (infant Ram), which is represented by the Hindu Mahasabha — of the disputed 2.77 acres in Ayodhya on which the mosque had stood.
Later, speaking to HT, Verma made an attempt to clarify his stand. He, however, ended up saying, “I merely meant that the Supreme Court too is part of this country and belongs to us and that we are sure the temple will come up in Ayodhya.”
“Humne kya galat kaha ki Supreme Court bhi hamara hai … arrey bhai hamara toh sabhi kuchh hai … jab yeh desh hamara hai toh sabhi kuchh hamara hi hai na (What wrong did I say? If the country is ours, then so is the SC and everything else),” he added.
Earlier this year, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also created a controversy as he said that the Union government could bring up a legislation in Parliament to facilitate the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.