A Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader on Tuesday gifted party chief Raj Thackeray a brick that he brought back following the December 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
The party leader, Bala Nandgaonkar, claimed that Raj Thackeray was the heir of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's ideology, PTI reported.
The 16th century Babri Masjid was demolished by right-wing outfits on December 6, 1992.
Bal Thackeray has often been quoted as saying he was proud if any of his 'Sainiks', referring to Shiv Sena members, had taken part in the demolition of the mosque.
Nandgaonkar said he had kept the brick with him for 32 years. "I always wanted to gift it to (Shiv Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray once the construction of Ram Temple got over. Sadly, the temple is there but Balasaheb is not with us," the former MLA said.
"Thus, I decided to gift it to Raj Thackeray, who is taking forward Balasaheb's thoughts in the true sense. Raj Thackeray is the heir of Balasaheb's ideology," he said after gifting the brick to his party head.
Nandgaonkar said he had gone to Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, for the mosque's demolition. "There were many Shiv Sena workers with me for the kar seva," he said.
With a Ram temple now constructed at the site of the Babri Masjid, Nandgaonkar said he would like to bring back a brick from the temple. "I would like to bring back home a brick from the current site of the Ram temple as a souvenir," he said.
The consecration of Ram Lalla's idol at the Ayodhya temple was held on January 22 this year.
It was held after the first phase of the temple’s construction, which was made possible by a historic Supreme Court judgment in 2019 that settled the decades-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit.
The Hindu litigants had argued that the Babri Masjid was constructed at the site of a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram.
Published By:
Karishma Saurabh Kalita
Published On:
Feb 6, 2024
English (US) ·