PM to attend Ram Temple inauguration, Muslim leaders want him to also lay mosque's foundation

AYODHYA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony at Ayodhya's Ram Temple on January 22, 2024.

Members of the temple trust formally extended an invitation for the ceremony to the Prime minister in Delhi on Wednesday.

General Secretary of the Sri Ram Janambhoomi Trust, Champat Rai, officially confirmed the date of January 22, 2024, for the installation of the idol of Lord Ram in the 'Garbhagriha' (sanctum sanctorum) of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Lord Ram's idol will be placed inside the temple on this day.

The invitation to Prime Minister Modi was issued one day after the announcement by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, confirming the installation of Lord Ram's idol at the Ayodhya temple on January 22. He also urged people to arrange events at temples throughout the country to commemorate this significant occasion.

Ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Ayodhya, some Muslim leaders have requested the Prime Minister to also lay the foundation stone of the new Babri Masjid.

In the 2019 landmark Supreme Court ruling in the Ayodhya land dispute, the judgment said that the Ram Mandir would be constructed at the 2.77 acres disputed site and Muslims would be given an alternate 5-acre land in Dhannipur for the construction of Babri Masjid.

While 'Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra' was formed for the construction of the temple, the 'Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation' was formed to oversee the mosque's construction.

Iqbal Ansari, who was one of the main petitioners in the Babri Masjid-Ram temple dispute, held members of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation responsible for the delay in the mosque's construction.

Expressing displeasure with the pace of the mosque's construction, he demanded that the trustees of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation be changed. While Lord Ram's idol is to be placed in the temple in January, the foundation stone of the mosque is yet to be laid.

"Our Prime Minister is coming to Ayodhya on an auspicious occasion. We request him to start the work on the mosque also. This is our heartfelt wish," said Mohammad Ismail Ansari, President, Indian Muslim League.

Nazmul Hasan Ghani, Acting State President, Indian Muslim League, requested Prime Minister Modi to bring along Imam Ahmed Bukhari of Jama Masjid and Dr Ilyasi, President of the All India Imam Organization, and lay the foundation stone of the Dhannipur mosque.