More stones for Ram temple reach Ayodhya, Muslim outfits express concern

Muslim outfits expressed serious concern as three truckloads of red stones reached the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workshop at Ramsevak Puram in Ayodhya from Rajasthan.

According to the VHP sources over 200 tonnes of stones were unloaded from three trucks in the workshop in the early hours of Wednesday.

Barely a fortnight back, two truckloads of stones had arrived at the VHP workshop from Rajasthan. ''More truckloads of stones are likely to reach the workshop in the days to come,'' said an employee at the workshop.

He said that the work of carving of stones was going in full swing at the workshop, which was located not very far from the VHP's office at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya.

VHP spokesman Sharad Sharma said that there was no bar on bringing stones in Ayodhya.

''Trucks carrying stones have been arriving at Ayodhya since 1990...and they will keep on arriving in future also,'' Sharma told Deccan Herald over phone from Ayodhya on Thursday.

He said that the Akhilesh Yadav government had, under the influence of his ''advisers'' had banned the transportation of stones through an ''oral order''.

''The Saint community of the country now expect this government (NDA) to ensure construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya through a Parliamentary legislation on the lines of Somnath Temple in Gujarat,'' he added.

Sharma said that even seven years after the Allahabad high court's verdict in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid Title Suits, a regular hearing had not started at the Supreme Court. 

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also said during an interview to a TV channel recently that the government did not intend to ban the transportation of stones as there was no legal bar on the same.

The then Samajwadi Party (SP) government had imposed a ban on bringing the stones after Muslim outfits reacted sharply when truckloads of stones had arrived at Ayodhya from Rajasthan in 2015.

The arrival of the stones assumes significance in the wake of framing of charges against senior BJP leaders L.K.Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and some VHP leaders by a special CBI court here for their role in the demolition of the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Muslim leaders said that the government must stop the VHP from bringing stones in Ayodhya. ''The matter is in the court and all parties must wait for the court verdict...nothing should be done to vitiate the communal atmosphere in the country,'' said a senior Muslim leader here.