'Hope temple built as per Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas design'

Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case, VHP international president Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje on Saturday hoped that the trust, to be formed as per the legal order, would construct a grand temple as per the design prepared by the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas.

The Supreme Court in a unanimous verdict on Saturday cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque.

Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas was a trust formed by the members of the VHP on December 18, 1985, with the aim of constructing a grand temple at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.

"There is no question of loss or victory to any of the parties concerned after the Supreme Court's verdict in Ayodhya case because the apex court has resolved centuries' old issue by delivering a balanced judgement. This is a welcome decision because justice has been done," Kokje told PTI.

"In the light of the Supreme Court decision, we understand that necessary decisions for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya are to be taken under the supervision of the trust to be formed by the government," he added.

He said the VHP was expecting a grand temple to be built according to the same design prepared by Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, claiming that the latter had done a lot of preparatory work for the construction, including carving a large number of stones.

"The adoption of this design would be convenient to the (proposed) trust," Kokje, a former judge of the high courts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, said.

Kokje said he hoped people who had worked with dedication to Lord Ram will be included in the proposed trust.

He refused to give a direct query on the VHP's move, post the SC Ayodhya verdict, on similar disputed structures in Kashi and Mathura.

"Right now we are focusing on the construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. The stand of the society on the remaining issues will be seen after the construction of the Ram temple," he said.

"The Ram Janmabhoomi dispute was not created by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or the VHP. The general public started a movement to build a temple on Ram Janmabhoomi and we participated in this," he added.