Vinay Katiyar | PTI
He is the only person alive from a group of people who launched the Ram Mandir movement in 1983. The founder president of the Bajrang Dal and three-time MP representing Ayodhya, Vinay Katiyar believes that the legal dispute on Ramjanmabhoomi will be resolved in the next two to three years. Excerpts from an interview:
Are people genuinely interested in the Ram temple or is it just a political issue?
People ask me all the time when the Bhavya Ram mandir will be there before them. There is not a day when I am not asked this question. There is pressure on me all the time to get the temple built quickly. In fact, there was pressure on all of us who started this movement. But only I remain alive [from that group]. The others, Ashok Singhal, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Mahesh Narain Singh, are all dead. So there is pressure on me.
What are you doing about it?
I think of the temple all the time. I pray that it gets built quickly, but I am not able to do much directly because the issue is with the Supreme Court. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal are involved with the finer details.
And the BJP?
The BJP is in politics, and now they are enjoying power. But I discuss it with people in the BJP all the time, and they are all in favour of it. Now the chief minister of UP is Yogi Adityanath. He is aware of the urgency to build this temple. His guru, Mahant Avaidyanath, was anxious to see the temple. He was the one who united all the sadhus and sants to campaign for the temple. We started the movement in 1983, it is 2017 now. The young have grown old and the old have died. But like us, the BJP leaders, too, are waiting for a verdict from the Supreme Court.
Is there any way the issue can be resolved out of court?
It can be done by dialogue. All options are open.
Do you think the temple, or at least a foundation, will be visible by 2019?
I don’t think so, although we will keep trying. But we will try to solve the dispute in the next two to three years, and then start the construction. We will not compromise on that spot which is the place of Ram Lalla’s birth, where there are daily prayers even now.
