The communal harmony witnessed in Bihar’s East Champaran district, wherein Muslims donated land to build ‘world’s largest Hindu temple’ should be emulated in Ayodhya, Union Minister of State for AYUSH, Shripad Naik has said. Speaking during a Press conference on the anniversary of Modi Government’s one year in power, Naik, however, was quick to add that building the temple was not the job of the Government, but that it would aid the construction of the Ram Mandir, which he said was a “national task”.
“You must have heard the news about one community donating land for building a temple on their own volition. The Government’s efforts will be to solve the problem mutually... The Government will work in this direction,” Naik said. A temple being built to host a capacity of nearly 20,000 devotees is being built to rival the Cambodian Angkor Wat and has seen Muslims donate as much as 50 acres of land.
Naik, however, admitted that construction of the Ram temple, on the site of the Babri Masjid said that Ram temple construction “is a complicated issue, therefore it will take time”. The BJP, which in its earlier avatar was championing the temple cause, has stayed clear of the issue one year into its reign. “Building a Ram mandir is not the Government’s job, but we will offer whatever help we can, keeping the emotions of our countrymen in mind... There are other organisations which pursuing the actual construction work, we will help as it is a national task,” Naik said.