If I go it won't be good for those 'on stage': Subramanian Swamy on why he won't be at the Ram Mandir Bhoomi Puja 

BJP MP and one of the respondents in the Ayodhya Land Title Dispute Dr Subramanian Swamy said that he had not been invited to the Bhoomi Puja of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. He also added that if he would have gone the sadhus would have rejoiced at his arrival and that would have had a bad effect on those "on the stage". Swamy was speaking at The New Indian Express' e-conversation series e-expressions.

"If I would have come there, all the sadhus would have got up and cheered me and that would have had a bad effect on those on the stage," said Swamy. Answering TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla's question on whether India is united over the construction of the Ram Mandir, Swamy said that Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao were the ones who laid the foundation stones of the Ram Temple to be made. But will the politics over Ram end now? "There was no politics on Ram. We just said wanted it to be built and we are not going to stop here. There are two more — Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath Temple. On August 7 there is a hearing on clarification about the law that states that whatever (religious structure) stood in 1947 will remain that way. This violates my fundamental right. These two places have to be kept out of this Act," said Swamy.

The message the Bhoomi Puja will deliver is that India is a continuing civilisation and those who will try to disrupt it will not succeed, added Swamy. "We will restore our ancient tradition is a modern perspective even if it takes us 500 or 1000 years. We have had 600 years of Islamic onslaught followed by the Christian exploitation and now it has to be washed off. Shastra has been rewritten many times and in these times our shastra is the Constitution," he said.

As the foundation is set for the Ram Mandir in Ayodha, TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla debated the origins of the deep-rooted issue and how it will impact our culture with Dr Subramanian Swamy, Rajya Sabha MP, Prof Kapil Kapoor, Chairman, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies and Dr Kuldeep Ratnoo, Director, India Policy Foundation, along with whom this session was conducted by TNIE.