Slamming RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for demanding a law to pave the way for Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, Muslim leaders and clerics on Thursday made it clear that they would ''under no circumstances accept'' the same.
''We will only accept the verdict of the supreme court, where the matter is pending.....any law for construction of the Ram Temple will not be accepted to us,'' Iqbal Ansari, one of the main plaintiffs in the Ram Janambhoomi Babri Masjid Title Suits, said in Ayodhya.
Ansari said that the saffron leaders started raking up the Ram Temple issue, when the elections neared. ''They forget Ram and Temple after the polls,'' he added.
Senior sunni cleric and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali termed Bhagwat's remarks as ''politically motivated'' and said that all sides must wait for the apex court judgement in the matter.
''It is a deliberate attempt to gain political mileage ahead of the polls....no one should be surprised...elections should be fought on issues and not on religious lines,'' the cleric said.
One of the lawyers for the Muslim plaintiffs Zafaryab Jilani also condemned the remarks by Bhagwat and said that any law for construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya would be ''unconstitutional''.
''The matter is pending in the supreme court....no one can make such remarks....no legislation can be enacted in this respect....such remarks are being made as part of a well planned strategy to create favorable political atmosphere ,'' Jilani said.