Muslims handed over the disputed sites voluntarily, hence the demand for temple construction: VHP

New Delhi: The World Hindu Council on Thursday explained the reason why the Hindu community is claiming rights over Muslim monuments and petitions are being filed in the courts regarding this. He said that Hindus may be angry that the disputed sites in Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi were not handed over to Hindus voluntarily by the Muslim community.

VHP General Secretary Milind Parande said, “A Dharma Sansad was organized in 1984. It said, ‘Give Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura to us and then there will be no movement on other issues. Now 2025 is coming. What was proposed in 1984 has not been implemented yet. Therefore, the resentment that is seen in the society is probably one of the main reasons for this.” He also reacted to Mohan Bhagwat’s statement. Parande said, “Earlier Mohan Bhagwat ji had spoken about Kashi and Mathura and his (recent) statement should be understood in that context.”

Bhagwat had said that Ram temple in Ayodhya is a matter of faith for Hindus, but raising new issues on a daily basis is unacceptable due to hatred, malice and suspicion. Some Hindu religious leaders said that the Sangh should not tell the Hindu society what it should do. To this Parande said, “We do not comment on saints.”

Parande on government control over temples
The VHP also spoke on the issue of government control over temples. Parande said, “We are going to start a nationwide public awareness campaign about this from January 5, 2025. The call for this campaign will be given at a special and huge gathering of lakhs of people in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh at Handava Shankharavam.”

The organisation has also prepared a draft law, which has been prepared to streamline the process of handing over the temples to the society and their management. Parande said that last week a delegation of the organisation met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and handed over this draft law to him.

What are the demands of VHP?

• The VHP has also made public a list of some demands before handing over the temples to the society.
• Removal of all non-Hindu employees in temples and endowment departments.
• Employing only those Hindus who follow it in the works of worship, bhog and seva.
• Ban on the appointment of persons associated with any political party in the trust board and management of temples.
• Allowing only Hindus to run shops inside and outside temples.
• Removal of all encroachments made on temple lands and all constructions done by non-Hindus.