'Twenty-three years after it was banned following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the Bajrang Dal on December 6 this year renewed its pledge for a Ram temple at the mosque site. The anniversary of the demolition is technically a day of “valour” (Shaurya Diwas) for the Hindutva outfit. This year, however, Shaurya Diwas wasn’t subdued as in many past years. There were elaborate press releases and there was heightened activity on right-wing Twitter handles in support of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.
'Bajrang Dal will observe the 23rd anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition on Sunday as “Shourya Divas” (Valour Day). While the organisation has been observing the day all these years, the context of the recent death of Ashok Singhal, leader of the VHP, its parent organisation, and the Sangh Parivar’s reiteration of its commitment to build a Ram temple as the “true” tribute to him, has made the event, otherwise “routine”, acquire greater symbolic importance...
'Welcoming RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on construction of a Ram temple during his lifetime, the Shiv Sena Saturday said he should announce a date for its commencement, reported Press Trust of India. “We welcome the stand taken by Mohan Bhagwat on the issue. He should now announce a date for the commencement of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to give an impetus to the issue….
'A day after Mohan Bhagwat said he was confident of seeing the Ram Temple built in his lifetime, the RSS chief, in a series of tweets on Thursday, urged society to prepare the ground for it. “The temple will be built within my lifetime… We need to plan it carefully… (we need) a good mix of ‘josh’ and ‘hosh’,” Bhagwat had said in Kolkata on Wednesday. While he said that the Ram Temple could be built anywhere, Bhagwat added that Ayodhya was the birthplace of Ram. “Just as terrorists attacked the twin towers of World Trade Centre in the US because it was their economic centre.
'VHP leader Ashok Singhal, who rose to prominence playing a leading role in the Ram Janambhoomi movement in the late eighties that eventually culminated in the destruction of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in 1992, died Tuesday at a private hospital here, according to Press Trust of India... Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Singhal. “The demise of Ashok Singhalji is a deep personal loss. He was an institution in himself, whose life was centred around serving the nation,” he tweeted. He said he was always fortunate to receive Singhal’s blessings and guidance.
'Ashok Singhal, the VHP patriarch credited with giving Hindutva a political face in the shape of the Ayodhya movement, died today in a Gurgaon hospital. He was 89. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom Singhal was one of the first to endorse as Prime Minister at the 2012 Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, acknowledged the "deep personal loss". "The demise of Ashok Singhalji is a deep personal loss. He was an institution in himself, whose life was centered around serving the nation. I was always fortunate to receive Ashokji's blessings and guidance," Modi tweeted in a condolence message.
"On 1 October, the Centre will issue a stamp commemorating Mahant Avaidyanath, one of the leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation. There was a demand for a stamp on the Mahant by Yogi Adityanath, the firebrand BJP leader who represents Gorakhpur in Lok Sabha. Adityanath succeeded Avaidyanath as the head of the Gorakhnath Math... The Liberhan Commission named Avaidyanath as one of those individuals responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992.
'No temple, but here's a museum. The Narendra Modi government is planning to build a state of-the-art Ram museum in the politically charged town of Ayodhya. Tourism minister Mahesh Sharma told ET that the museum will be part of the proposed 'Ramayana circuit'. The locus of past and possible political battles — the 'disputed site' — will not be part of the Ram museum. "This will be an exclusive museum which will be part of a larger holistic plan. The idea is to depict the mahima (grandeur) of Ram and Ramayana. The disputed site will not be touched by the project," Sharma said.
"Last month, senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi declared that if Yogi Adityanath, BJP MP from Gorakhpur, had spoken of “love jihad” in Bihar the way he did in Uttar Pradesh, he “would have contradicted him”. It was a strong statement coming from an RSS-trained politician, which suggests that the BJP’s rising star in UP belongs to a different school of thought. Adityanath embodies a specific tradition that can be traced back to Digvijay Nath, a major figure in the line of mahants of the Gorakhnath temple of Gorakhpur.
"The CBI has decided to seek permission from the Rae Bareli special court for removal of senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Giriraj Kishore’s name from the list of accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case after his death. Giriraj Kishore, 94, who was actively associated with the Ram temple agitation, died here on Sunday evening following prolonged illness. Sources said, “The agency will move an application before the Rae Bareli special court on July 19, next date of hearing in the case.
