Dream of Hindus to build temple fulfilled, says Togadia

Reacting to Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict, controversial former Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia, who is among the faces behind the Ram Mandir construction movement started in the mid 80s, said that "the dream of Hindus to build the temple has been fulfilled.''

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The saffron leader, who was ousted from the VHP and floated his own organisation-Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad- said that a grand temple should now be constructed on the basis of the model he had built back in 1989 and which he had produced in the 'Dharm Sansad' held at Prayag in Allahabad, now called Prayagraj.

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"Ram Temple at the same place of Ram's birth has been the Hindu demand for more than 450 years. Lakhs of Hindus sacrificed their lives, careers, families for this. Today, Supreme Court giving the same land for Ram Temple is a salute to this sacrifice. We welcome it happily and request the Central Government that it should be grateful to recognise this sacrifice of all. We have confidence that the Government now would build a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya soon. We also appeal to all to maintain democratic peace while expressing joy," Togadia said.

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While addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad, he said that it was for this movement that he left his medical practice with thousands of other "devotees of Ram''. "We had collected Rs 1.25 from eight crore Hindus at that time. In the movement, we lost 59 Ram 'bhakts' who were burnt at Godhra railway station in 2002. Many died in police firing. The central government should give credit to all who gave up their lives and respect their contribution," he said.