7 July 2003
BJP CLAIMS AYODHYA TALKS STILL
ON
From Jal Khambata
NEW DELHI: The
Bhartiya Janata Party on Monday asked the Congress to play a
constructive role on the Ayodhya dispute, treating it as an important
national issue in view of the sentiments of the people for
construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
BJP spokesman
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, however, wriggled out when asked if his party
wants the Congress support to bring a legislation in coming
Parliament session to resolve the dispute as being demanded by RSS
and VHP. He said the legislation is certainly one of the three
options "but today we have no majority in Parliament to make the
law."
Asked how can Congress support construction of the
Ram Temple as it would go against the mandate it got from the voters
by opposing the move, Naqvi shot back that the Congress also did not
have mandate to bring a legislation to negate the Shah Bano judgment
of the Supreme Court.
Asserting that the talks for a
negotiated settlement of the dispute have not failed as claimed by
the Congress, Naqvi asserted that the BJP was optimistic of efforts
still continuing as the rejection of the Kanchi Shankaracharya's
Ayodhya formula by the Muslim Law Board has not closed the doors of
talks.
Braving a volley of questions at the Press briefing at
the BJP headquarters here on his claim that the talks were still on,
Naqvi said there was no reason for the talks to be held behind the
curtains and the BJP was optimistic since the efforts were
progressing "definitely in right direction."
"It
is not important at what levels the talks were being held. It is only
important that talks are continuing or else there would have been no
rejection of the (Shankaracharya) formula if there were no talks,"
Naqvi sheepishly sought to explain.
Yet another issue on which
he had to do lot of explaining was his remarks that efforts to
resolve the dispute through talks were being sabotaged by those
suffering from "Talibani maansikta" (Taliban
mentality).
Was he accusing the Muslim Law Board that rejected
the Shankaracharya formula? Naqvi repeatedly affirmed that he was not
naming any organisation and only referring to the mentality that
looks negatively towards the efforts to find a solution to the vexed
problem. Certain persons suffer from this mentality, he said without
elaborating.
Making it clear that the BJP was not involved in
these efforts nor taking any initiatives, he said: "We only want
the earliest solution and that we want that Ram Temple should be
built in Ayodhya at the earliest and this can be done through
talks."
Asked if in BJP's view the only solution is the
Ram Temple at the demolished Babri Mosque site, Naqvi shot back: "I
don't think even any Muslim organsation has opposed construction of
the temple."
He also declined to comment on the
Shankaracharya's various letters to the Muslim Law Board except to
state that his initiatives were definitely positive and in right
direction.
Blasting the Congress for quickly jumping to
conclusion that rejection of the Shankaracharya formula by the board
meant a faolure of all efforts to resolve the dispute, Naqvi said the
Congress should not forget that the Ayodhya issue was one of the many
legacies that the Congress has left behind for the government to
resolve.
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