New Delhi: An appeal from the trust undertaking Ram temple construction in Ayodhya to VIPs has sparked speculation if the inaugural of the temple is planned for January 22, 2024. The trust said it wouldn’t be able to provide security and protocol to VIPs planning to visit the town on the said day.
Citing sources in the Uttar Pradesh government, The Telegraph reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could offer inaugural prayers there between 11 am and noon on that day. “It was decided at a meeting two days ago that the Prime Minister would offer the first prayer at the new Ram temple on January 22. The PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) has agreed to it but it would be unwise on our part to announce the chief guest’s programme. The PMO will announce it soon if everything goes well. The temple will be opened for the general public on January 26,” the daily quoted a senior government official as saying.
Earlier, the Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust had issued its appeal to VIPs without citing any reason.”Chief ministers, governors, ambassadors and all those who enjoy visit-and-security-related protocol shouldn’t come to Ayodhya on January 22. We or the local administration wouldn’t be able to welcome them,” Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust, told reporters at his office in the temple town on Friday, October 13. However, he had sidestepped questions if the inauguration of the temple was being planned on the said day.
He also asked devotees abroad planning to offer prayers at the temple to get in touch with the foreign department of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, where he said a contact person has been appointed for each country. “These contact persons will coordinate with the Ayodhya administration and fix a day for devotees from every county to offer prayers here,” he added.
In the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scheme of things, a Ram Temple in Ayodhya holds great significance before it goes to polls next year, seeking a third consecutive term in the government. Construction of the temple began in November 2019 after the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the temple trust.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board (UPSCWB) has decided to change the map of the mosque that will come up in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village. The Uttar Pradesh government allotted five acres of land to the Waqf Board for building the mosque on the Supreme Court’s directions in 2019.
Zufar Ahmad Faruqi, chairman of the UPSCWB and chief trustee of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation, said a decision has been taken to build the country’s largest mosque in Ayodhya. The mosque complex will also house a 300-bed hospital for the poor, he said, adding that the construction of the mosque will begin soon.
According to Haji Arfat Shaikh, a BJP leader from Mumbai, the mosque will be named Mohammad Ibn Abdullah Masjid.