Muslims should support construction of Ram temple: Subramanian Swamy

Jamshedpur: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday urged the Muslim community to support construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi - Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.

"Ram mandir can only be built at one place in Ayodhya where the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site following investigation by the Archaeological Survey of India," Swamy said at a function organised to pay tribute to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Shukhdev who were hanged on this day in 1931.

The BJP Rajya Sabha MP claimed that the Allahabad High Court in 2003 had made it clear that the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site.

"Babri Masjid was built after the temple was demolished and the Hindu community has been demanding construction of the Ram temple for a long time," he said.

"If the issue is settled amicably, it will be all right, otherwise we will enact a law to construct a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya when we get majority in the Rajya Sabha by April, 2018," Swamy asserted.

"We will appreciate, if the Muslim community comes forward to find an amicable solution to build the Ram temple at the site, or else we would too follow the step taken by the erstwhile Rajiv Gandhi government in the Shah Bano case," he said.

"We have been asking the Muslim community to vacate only three sites in Mathura, Kashi and Ayodhya," he said, expressing hope that all these disputed sites would be freed by 2024.

The MP, who was asked by the Supreme Court to talk to all parties in the dispute, said he had discussions with Muslim leaders -- AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Zafaryab Jilani -- over the issue.

"The Muslim leaders did not agree to a bilateral negotiation but wanted mediation of the Supreme Court," he said.