Hindus are running out of patience on the Ram temple issue, Union minister Giriraj Singh said on Monday after the Supreme Court fixed the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute cases for the first week of January next year.
"Shri Ram" is the cornerstone of the faith of the Hindus, the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises said.
"The Congress has decided to make it a Hindu-Muslim issue. Shri Ram is the cornerstone of faith of the Hindus. Hindus are running out of patience. I fear what will happen if Hindus lose out of patience...," the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises said.
Fourteen appeals have been filed against the high court judgement, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, on Monday said an "appropriate bench" will decide in January next year the future course of hearing on the appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case.
"We will fix the date of hearing of the Ayodhya dispute case before the appropriate bench in January," the bench, which also comprised Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said.
The case:
In 2010, a verdict by the Allahabd HC had divided the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area in Ayodhya into three parts.
Earlier, a three judge bench, by a 2:1 majority, refused to refer to a five-judge constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam. The matter had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute.
An apex court bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence, adding that the previous verdict has no relevance to this issue.
The bench had fixed the batch of appeals for final hearing today.
As many as 14 appeals have been filed against the high court judgement, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
(With inputs from agencies)
