Country does not run on what BJP leaders say, India is not Vatican or Saudi: Owaisi

Owaisi dared the BJP to bring an ordinance to construct Ram temple in Ayodhya.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday dared the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bring an ordinance on the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Speaking to Zee News, Owaisi claimed that any such move by the government would be anti-Constitutional.

The Hyderabad MP further said that the decision of the Supreme Court to defer the hearing in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case till January 2019 must be respected. “Everyone needs to respect the wisdom and the decision of Supreme Court,” said the AIMIM chief.

Owaisi hit out at the BJP over statements of some of its leaders on the Ram temple issue, saying that the “country does not run on what BJP leaders say, it runs as per the provisions of the Constitution”.

The AIMIM MP accused the BJP of always playing politics in the name of Ram temple. He alleged that the BJP grabbed power at the Centre by reaping benefits of the Ram temple controversy.

“If there’s anyone who has played politics on ram temple, it is the BJP. It will do the same again because it has failed on all fronts like Jammu and Kashmir, petrol and diesel prices,” said the Hyderabad MP.

When asked about how the Christians and Muslims have holy shrines at the the Vatican and Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Owaisi said that “India cannot be compared” to them.

“Majoritarian politics will not work in India. There is functional democracy here,” he said.

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the listing of the Ram Janmabhoomi title suit matter for an appropriate bench that will fix the dates in January 2019 for the hearing of a batch of petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict trifurcating the disputed site.

During a brief hearing, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice KM Joseph gave its decision on the petitions challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court ruling by which the disputed site in Ayodhya was divided into three parts - for Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and the original Muslim litigant.

"We have our own priorities. Whether the case will come in January, February or March, it will be for the appropriate bench to decide," CJI Gogoi said as a lawyer urged the court to decide on the dates when the hearing on challenge to the High Court judgment will take place.

The listing of the matter for January could prolong the hearing in the case for a few months - by when the country would be in election mode due to general elections due in April-May 2019.