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Sants to decide on future of March 15 programme: VHP

Accepting the Supreme Court's ruling against its proposed bhumi pujan at the acquired site in Ayodhya on March 15, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday said that the future strategy on the issue would be decided by the sants.

Reading from a prepared text, VHP international general secretary Praveen Togadia told mediapersons in Delhi that the organisation accepted the Supreme Court verdict with regret.

"It is for the first time in independent India that Hindus have been stopped from exercising their right to worship," he said.

Contending that its activists would continue their peaceful struggle, which has been going on for the last 474 years, for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Togadia emphasised that 'the court has not taken the final decision on the contentious issue'.

He said that VHP activists would undertake a satyagraha in protest against its karsewaks being prevented from entering Ayodhya.

Significantly, VHP president Vishnu Hari Dalmia said that the court had not raised questions about the VHP's locus standi in the affair.

Both Dalmia and Togadia expressed satisfaction with Attorney General Soli Sorabjee's stand on the issue.

They said that the court verdict had strengthened their resolve to continue their struggle to build the temple in Ayodhya.

Togadia said that temple could still be built if Parliament gave its approval for the same.

However, he sidestepped questions on whether the VHP was in favour of fresh parliamentary elections.

"We are not here to destabilise any government, we expect the government to honour Hindu sentiments," he said.

"We do not support any political party. We are simply spearheading a Hindu movement," he added.

The Ayodhya Issue: Complete Coverage

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