New Delhi, February 27
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asked the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to abandon its Ayodhya campaign, stating “violence and agitations cannot help in resolving the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi issue.”

Expressing shock over the burning down of a coach of Sabarmati Express by some miscreants this morning at Godhra in Gujarat, Mr Vajpayee said the Ayodhya issue could be resolved either through negotiations or a court verdict.

Reiterating his government’s resolve to maintain harmony and peace in the country, he said all necessary steps would be taken in this regard.

Mr Vajpayee said the all-party meeting on Ayodhya yesterday agreed that the court should be asked to expedite hearings on the issue so that the controversial issue was amicably settled. “We are hopeful that the court would take necessary steps in this regard,” he said.

Giving details of the incident, the Prime Minister said the train was stopped probably because the passengers were raising slogans.

He feared that more deaths might occur following the fracas. An inquiry has been instituted to ascertain the facts.

“What happened and why it happened, will be investigated,” he said.

Concerned over the assembly of thousands of kar sevaks in Ayodhya, Home Minister L.K. Advani said the exercise could lead to flagrant defiance of court orders and warned the VHP that the government would not hesitate to take action to maintain law and order.

The VHP has “embarked on a course of action in Ayodhya which is fraught with dangerous consequences. Thousands are sought to be assembled in Ayodhya to take part in a mass exercise which can only lead to flagrant defiance of the court orders,” he said in a terse statement a day after the all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister to discuss the temple issue.

Asking VHP leaders, particularly Mr Ashok Singhal, to abandon their present course of action, Mr Advani said. “If, however, they persist in their present approach, the government would not hesitate to take action against those who defy court orders or create problems for law and order”.

Asserting that it was the duty of the Centre as well as the Uttar Pradesh Government to ensure that court orders were not violated by anyone, the Home Minister said the developments in Ayodhya could, thus, precipitate a serious law and order problem.