“THROUGH today’s verdict the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court has acknowledged and ratified the age-old faith of crores of people of Bharat in Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram and his Janmabhoomi. Therefore, I welcome and congratulate the honourable Justices who delivered the verdict. I also congratulate the battery of lawyers who were involved in this legal battle, all the saints who were leading the Ramjanmabhoomi movement and all others including the people of the country who participated in it in a big way. I offer my respectful homage to the sacred and inspiring memory of all those karsevaks like Kothari brothers who have laid down their lives in the movement for re-establishing that faith.
Building of Sri Ram temple signifies the identity, honour, independence and valour of our country. Sri Ram is the epitome of the eternal, inclusive, caring and tolerant culture of our Bharat. The movement for Sri Ram temple is not a reactionary one, nor is it against any particular community. Hence, this verdict, that facilitates building of a magnificent temple for Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram, should not be seen by the society as a victory to any group or defeat to the other. Our joy and happiness should find expression in a controlled, peaceful manner within the limits of law and Constitution; uncalled for provocations must be avoided. This is an excellent opportunity to rise above all the past experiences in the spirit of our tolerant and inclusive national culture and strive to organise our diverse, multiple-lingual and multiple-religious society into a united, disciplined and conflict-free one inspired by a grand and sacred vision.
Hence, I take this opportunity to heartily and affectionately call upon all our countrymen including the Muslims to forget all the ill-will and hard feelings borne out of the conflicts of the past decades and welcome the verdict of the judiciary, thus becoming active collaborators in organising necessary constitutional and practical means for building the magnificent temple for Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram.”
