Lucknow: Samajwadi Party MP Munawwar Saleem’s statement that the Ram temple in Ayodhya should be constructed at all costs, has drawn strong criticism from Muslims, in general, and Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Babri mosque title suit, in particular.

At a meeting at Etah district on Wednesday Mr Saleem had said, “If a Ram temple is not built in India, where else will it be built?” he asked and added that even a Muslim-dominated country like Malaysia had several Ram temples.

Hashim Ansari, the main litigant in the Babri case said that it is Muslims like him who have done maximum damage to the Muslim cause. He also added that the matter was sub-judice and the MP should have known better.