Moment Of Fulfillment: LK Advani On Supreme Court’s Verdict In Ayodhya Case

Veteran BJP leader LK Advani, who charioted the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, on Saturday hailed the Supreme Court verdict in the communally sensitive case of Ayodhya title dispute, saying that it was a "moment of fulfillment" for him. "It is a moment of fulfillment for me because God Almighty had given me an opportunity to make my own humble contribution to the mass movement, the biggest since India’s Freedom Movement, aimed at the outcome which SC's verdict today has made possible," Advani said in a statement.

The Ram Janmabhoomi movement which catapulted the BJP to the national limelight in the 1990s was conceived by Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief Ramchandra Paramhans, engineered by Ashok Singhal and charioted by L K Advani.

In the late 1980s, Advani became the political face of the movement, giving it heft and wide publicity. While Ramchandra Paramhans was the pioneer of the agitation, it was Advani who made Ram Temple a political issue and brought it to the forefront of the country’s discourse.

Also Read | Supreme Court Verdict In Ayodhya Case Puts An End To BJP's Temple Politics: Congress

The party included the Ram temple issue in its manifesto in 1989 under the presidentship of Advani. After taking the charge of the party in 1986, he charted a shift in the BJP’s ideology towards hardline Hindutva, which resulted in the change of fortunes for the party from two to 85 seats in Parliament.

The party’s shift in ideology exemplified by the Ram Rath Yatra led by him in 1990 as part of an effort to generate electoral support by appealing to Hindu nationalism.

In a unanimous verdict, the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Saturday ruled that the disputed land will be given to Hindus as Muslim party failed to prove possessory title. The court, however, has directed to allot a separate five acres land for Muslims to build a mosque. The apex court said the mosque should be constructed at a "prominent site".  The site was occupied by the 16th century Babri mosque which was destroyed by Hindu extremists on December 6, 1992.

(With inputs from PTI)