'Emotional, happy': Muslim karsevak who visited Ayodhya in Dec 1992 shares feelings on Ram temple consecration

Lucknow: Mohammad Habib got emotional as some unbroken, uncooked grains of rice and a letter came for him from miles away in Ayodhya. Along with that came a photo of the Ram temple in the holy city.

"I became emotional as I got the 'akshata'," the 70-year-old former 'kar sevak', who has also held various posts in the district unit of the BJP, told PTI from Mirzapur.

The 'akshata', the letter (patram) and the Ram temple photo have been sent from Ayodhya as the city prepares for the grand consecration ceremony on January 22. He will watch the ceremony on his TV and will visit the temple any day after january 22, as has been urged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He says he was a 'karsevak' and stayed in Ayodhya for 4-5 days from December 2, 1992 with 'my group of people'. The Babri mosque was brought down on December 6, 1992, sparking a countrywide riot.

The protracted legal battle between Hindu and Muslim sides settled on November 9, 2019 when a Supreme Court order paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a government trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.

The consecration ceremony at the temple has been scheduled for January 22. "It will be a historic day for everyone," Habib says. "We have got this date after a lot of 'tapasya' and a lot of battles."

"I am an old-timer of the BJP. After almost 32 years, I have got the results, and old memories have revived. I along with my group of people stayed in Ayodhya for 4-5 days from December 2, 1992 onwards," he said.

Habib says he considers Lord Ram his ancestor. "And remembering ancestors is Bhartiyata (Indianness)'."

In Mirzapur's neighbouring district of Varanasi, social worker Nazneen Ansari, who runs her Muslim Mahila Foundation which works for the welfare of Muslim women, is also happy. As is her associate Najma.

They have decided to bring Ram Jyoti (special diyas) from Ayodhya and distribute them among 400-500 families -- both Hindus and Muslims -- in Varanasi.

"We will bring the Jyoti of Lord Shri Ram and give to Hindu and Muslim families in Kashi, and will appeal to them to keep it burning uninterrupted till January 22. This is because not a single person here can say that Lord Ram is not our ancestor. Lord Ram resides in each and every particle. We all know that we can change our religions, but we cannot change our ancestors. Lord Ram will be consecrated in Ayodhya, what could be more joyful than this," Najma told PTI.

Nazneen Ansari says they have "seen a period of hatred where it was scary to take the name of Ram temple. And, today we are also seeing happiness across the country because of the construction of Ram Mandir. I am feeling very happy because of that." Ansari says she started following Lord Ram following blasts in the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi 2006. The bomb blasts at the temple and the cantonment railway station had left at least 20 people dead.

"I along with 70 Muslim women went to the Sankat Mochan temple and recited Hanuman Chalisa," she said, adding she will watch the consecration ceremony on TV.

But Iqbal Ansari of Ayodhya, who represented the Muslim side in the Ram temple-Babri mosque dispute case, will be among the audience who will be present at the consecration ceremony.

He has got the official invitation from the authorities for the consecration ceremony. "Ayodhya has always symbolised Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (a culture of peaceful coexistence). The harmony that exists in Ayodhya is also in me. I welcomed the person who came to give the invitation card to me," Ansari told PTI from Ayodhya.

He had also got the invitation to attend the August 5, 2020 Bhoomipujan of the Ram temple and had attended that event as well.

"When the Supreme Court gave its judgement on November 9, 2019, the Muslims of the entire country welcomed it. There were no protests nor any agitation anywhere in the country. All these issues have ended on November 9, 2019," the 55-year-old advocate told PTI.

Ansari, whose family has been living in Ayodhya for the past 100 years, said whatever is happening in Ayodhya is historic, and added that development is taking place in the temple town.

Ganga Singh, RSS' Sampark Pramukh Avadh Prant, who delivered the invitation to Iqbal Ansari, told PTI, "He (Iqbal Ansari) accepted the card with enthusiasm and respect. He said that he will come to attend the praan pratishtha and also have a darshan of Ram Lalla."

The advocate's father Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the land dispute case, died at the age of 95 in 2016, after which Iqbal started pursuing the case in court.