RSS embarks on nine-day 'Sankalp Rath Yatra' over Ram Mandir

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) flagged off a nine-day 'Sankalp Rath Yatra' from Delhi on Friday to press its demands on Ram temple construction in Ayodhya.

The RSS has been demanding an ordinance or a law to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya at the earliest, saying the Supreme Court's decision to defer the hearing in the land dispute case "hurt" Hindu sentiments. The top court has deferred the hearing put the case to January next year. 

The 'rath yatra' kicked off from Delhi's Jhandewala Mandir and will end on 9 December at Ramlila Maidan in the National Capital. 

Earlier, RSS national executive member Indresh Kumar said, “So, at this stage anyone who curses the government for not bringing an ordinance or enacting a law, will also be deemed to support injustice.”

Refusing to accord an urgent hearing on the Ayodhya land dispute case, the apex court has deferred the politically sensitive matter to the first week of January to fix a schedule for its hearing.

The apex court order has triggered a chorus of demands from within the BJP and various Sangh Parivar outfits for promulgating an ordinance, or enacting a law in the Winter session of Parliament, to build the Ram temple before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls without waiting for the verdict.