Jan 22 marks the beginning of journey to great India: Shah

The consecration of the Ram Lalla idol, he said, marks the “end of a struggle and a movement that began in 1528.”

“It is a day of hope, aspiration and accomplishment of crores of devotees… It is the beginning of the journey to great India,” Shah said, adding that the day (January 22) will be marked “as the re-awakening of the spiritual consciousness of the entire Bharat. It is the day of the beginning of the journey to make Bharat great again. This day paves the way to make Bharat Viswaguru again.”

“Itne chetnaamay vaatavaran ke andar bhi vibhaajan kee baat karne wale logon se karabaddh nivedan hai — samay ko pehchano, ekata ke sandesh ko sveekaaro aur aage dekhakar chalna shuru karo, Bharat ki aur hum sabki bhalai hai. (I have a sincere request to those people who talk of division even in such a conscious environment—recognise the time, accept the message of unity and start looking ahead, it is for the good of India and all of us.)”

Shah said that world history would mention the Ram temple movement as a “democratic value” because a country had waited so long, with patience, for fulfilling religious beliefs of its majority population, appealed in the Supreme Court, and it was fulfilled only after the SC judgment. Shah said such a “big thing” would not have been possible without PM Narendra Modi’s leadership. After the SC verdict, many feared there would be violence, he said, but Modi transformed the entire event into a devotional one. Shah underlined there is no country in the world where the majority society has fought such a long legal battle to uphold its faith.

Shah said, “We had passed a resolution in the BJP’s Palampur executive saying the construction of Ram temple should not be linked with religion, this is a movement for the renaissance of the country’s consciousness… Therefore, we will legally free the Ram Janmabhoomi and establish a Ram temple there,” Shah said, adding, “This country can not be imagined without Ram and Ramayana.”