Three truckloads of red stones arrived in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday for the construction of a Ram Mandir in the controversial city. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is overseeing the operations, has been hoarding these stones for the construction of the temple, ANI reported.
This is the second such batch to arrive in Ayodhya. Two truckloads of stones had been brought to the site on June 19.
The stones were unloaded at Ramsevak Puram, the site for VHP’s Ram Mandir construction workshop. The group said more than a 100 trucks were expected to arrive with more sandstone in the next few weeks.
The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, an organisation that functions under the VHP, is carving and chiseling stones for the structure. The organisation is headed by Nritya Gopal Das, one of the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
The second installment of stones were also brought from Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
‘No hurdles in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh’
Earlier, the VHP had asserted that there would not be any “hurdles” stopping them from constructing the temple as the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in Uttar Pradesh. The previous Akhilesh Yadav government in the state had banned them from importing the stones by denying them the Commercial Tax Department’s Form 39, which is required for imports in Uttar Pradesh.
The current government has not imposed any such restrictions. “Bringing stones to Ayodhya has not been banned by any court or authority, and the VHP is storing them in their private premises,” Faizabad Divisional Commissioner Manoj Mishra told The Times of India.
The Supreme Court had appointed Mishra as the receiver of the disputed Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi plot. A receiver is an individual who has the custodial responsibility for the property of others in dispute cases.
The Babri Masjid demolition
On December 6, 1992, lakhs of karsevaks gathered at the site had demolished the mosque. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.
The karsevaks had claimed that the land on which the mosque stood was the birthplace of Hindu god Ram. In May 2017, a CBI court had framed conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders, including LK Advani, Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi, in the case.
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