India Tomorrow
New Delhi, Dec 2: Amidst clamour by saffron outfits for construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya without waiting for the final verdict of the Supreme Court, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has urged all left parties to commemorate December 6 — the day the 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by a Hindutva mob in 1992 — as “Defend the Constitution and Secularism Day”.
“December 6 this year marks the 26th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. In the current situation, it is essential to observe this day in the defence of secularism and democracy,” CPI-M said in a statement.
“The RSS-led outfits have begun a campaign to demand that the central government pass a legislation/ordinance to facilitate the building of the Ram temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya, bypassing the Supreme Court,” it added.
“This campaign is designed to subserve the communal agenda of the Sangh Brigade and nullify the provisions relating to secularism in the Indian Constitution. The Left parties are strongly opposed to this effort to subvert the judicial verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. The Sangh Brigade cannot be allowed to subvert the Constitutional provisions in the name of ‘faith’,” it said.
Sangh Parivar Goes Offensive after SC Deferred Ayodhya Case Hearing
Ever since the Supreme Court deferred the hearing in the title suit of Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case for January 2019, saffron groups including RSS and BJP have gone offensive pressing the central government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring a law or ordinance for construction of the temple.
On November 24-25, Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had held gatherings in Ayodhya to vow construction of the temple. On December 1, RSS launched a nationwide ‘Sankalp Yatra’ for the same purpose. However, both events have failed to get mass support from people. For Ayodhya event, VHP had claimed to gather over two lakh people, but not more than some thousands could attend it.
On December 1, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an affiliate of RSS, launched ‘Sankalp Yatra’ in Delhi to push for the early construction of the Ram temple. After nine days of nationwide tour, the yatra will culminate into a gathering at Ramlila Ground in the national capital. For the inaugural at RSS headquarters in the city on Saturday, the Manch had claimed to gather thousands of people. But hardly about 100 people could attend it.
Supremacy of law must be respected by all: Jamaat
On the VHP’s flop Ayodhya show, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said: “We hope that the people of this country continue on this path of peace and harmony and do not give any response to calls for violence and breaking the law over matters related to faith and creed. The response to calls by Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray for doing ‘dharna’ till the Ram temple is constructed has been extremely lackadaisical.”
Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, Ameer (National President) of Jamaat opposed any move for construction of temple on the disputed site before the final verdict of the top court of the country.
Maulana Umari said: “We also oppose attempts to acquire the Babri Masjid land through enactment of an ordinance as the matter is pending before the judiciary and such a move will set a very unhealthy precedent which will be extremely damaging to the democratic polity of our nation. The supremacy of law must be respected by all stakeholders and peace with communal harmony must be preserved and protected at all costs”.
The Jamaat chief appreciated the Muslim community “for exhibiting calmness in the face of provocation and not giving kneejerk reaction to the extremely fragile situation that prevailed at Ayodhya in the last few days.”
— With Inputs From IANS
