Ayodhya temple campaigner dies

Paramhans was associated with the Ayodhya movement for 70 years

One of the most prominent leaders of the campaign to build a Hindu temple on the site of a destroyed mosque in northern India has died.

Ramchandra Das Paramhans was at the forefront of the movement to build a temple at a disputed site in Ayodhya.

Thousands of people died in nationwide riots in 1992 after Hindu rioters demolished the Ayodhya mosque.

It had been built in the 16th Century on what Hindu hardliners argue was the birthplace of the god-king Ram.

Temple icon

Ramchadra Das Paramhans, who was 92, had been suffering from liver cancer.

With his beard and long, matted hair, Mr Paramhans became well-known to Indian television viewers.

He had been involved in the Ram temple movement for the past 70 years and headed the trust formed to build the temple.

Hardliners want the temple built over the site of a destroyed mosque

The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in Lucknow says his death will be a major setback to the movement.

The Ayodhya temple campaign was spearheaded by right-wing Hindu groups closely affiliated to the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was partly responsible for the sudden rise in the party's fortunes in the 1990s.

Hardline pressure

The site, holy to both Hindus and Muslims, has been a constant source of religious clashes.

In the worst incident more than 3,000 people died in 1992 in nationwide riots after Hindu zealots destroyed a 16th Century mosque on the site, saying it had been built over a temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu God Ram.

In recent weeks the BJP has come under pressure from right-wing Hindu nationalists to try to implement a law to ensure the temple can be built.

A new law would bypass the courts which have failed to bring about a resolution to the problem.

An archaeological dig is under way at the site to try to determine whether a Hindu temple did once exist on the site of the destroyed mosque.

Earlier this month the high court in the city of Lucknow gave archaeologists working at the site five more weeks to carry out their investigations and another two weeks to complete their report.