'Sky-high' Ram temple to be built in 4 months, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (January 12) asserted that the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be built within four months and dared the Congress to stop its construction. He also took a swipe at opposition leaders for criticising the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Speaking at a public meeting in support of the CAA in Jabalpur, he said, “Congress’ lawyer Kapil Sibal says Ram temple shouldn’t be built. Sibal bhai, try to stop the construction. A sky-high Ram temple will be built in four months.”

Also read | On ‘immoral’ CAA, Ramachandra Guha asks why Lankan Tamils excluded

He further said the government “will not rest” until each oppressed Pakistani refugee is given Indian citizenship. “Congress people, listen…Oppose (CAA) to the extent you can. But we won’t sit quiet till each oppressed refugee from Pakistan gets Indian citizenship,” he said.

He also challenged opposition leaders, Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee, to find out a provision from CAA that can take citizenship away from anyone in this country.

Also read | Present state of economy a temporary phase, says Amit Shah

“We will rest only after giving citizenship to all these people. Nobody can stop us from doing so. The Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian refugees from Pakistan have the same rights in India as we have,” he said.

On the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issue, the BJP chief said some students in the premier university had raised anti-India slogans, including “Bharat tere tukde ho ek hazar”. “Shouldn’t we put them in jail? Whoever raises anti-national slogans must be put behind the bars,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)