Ram’s birthplace a ‘deity’, can’t be divided, SC told

New Delhi, August 13

Contending that the birthplace of Lord Ram itself was a deity, the counsel for Ram Lalla today told the SC that Muslims could not claim right over the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya as dividing it would amount to “destruction” and “mutilation” of the deity.

“When the property (Janmasthan) itself is the deity… the concept is that you cannot have destruction, division or mutilation of a deity. If the property is the deity then it will continue to remain the deity and the mere fact that later a mosque came up does not make the deity itself divisible,” senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan told a five-judge Bench.

Vaidyanathan’s statement came after the Bench sought to know if Hindus and Muslims jointly possessed the disputed site then how Muslims could be ousted. Hindus believe that Ram was born in Ayodhya. During Babur’s rule, a mosque was constructed at the place in 1528 after destroying the temples. On December 6, 1992, the disputed structure was demolished and since then there exists a makeshift temple. — TNS

Lord’S ‘descendants’ speak up

• After the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur, the former Mewar royal family and the Rajasthan Transport Minister have claimed they are the descendants of Lord Rama
• “It’s historically proven that my family is direct descendants of Ram. We don’t wish to stake claim on Ram Janma Bhumi but believe that Ram Temple must be built,” Arvind Singh Mewar of the erstwhile royal family in Udaipur said. State Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said: “We Suryavanshi Rajputs are descendants of Ram. There is no second opinion.” PTI