M A I N   N E W S

Muslim board threatens to pull out of talks
Tribune News Service And PTI

Jayendra Saraswathi Sankaracharya Mahaswamigal of Kancheepuram along with president of Imam Organisation Maulana Jamil Ahmed Ilyasi after a meeting to solve recent communal clashes and the Ram Mandir issue in New Delhi on Wednesday. — PTI photo

New Delhi, March 6
Kanchi Shankaracharya’s efforts to break the deadlock on Ayodhya today appeared to have run into rough weather with the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board threatening to pull out of negotiations after the VHP said it had given no commitment on abiding by the court verdict even as Centre approached the Allahabad High Court for an early and day-to-day hearing of the case.

Hours after VHP senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore said no commitment had been given on abiding by the court verdict, board convener S.Q.R. Illyas told PTI, “If the VHP goes against the commitment it had given to the Kanchi seer, then there is no point in our discussing the formula.”

Mr Illyas said the Shankaracharya had assured them (board members) that the VHP had given him a commitment that it would abide by a court verdict on the disputed land in lieu of allowing them to construct the temple in the undisputed area.
“Either the Shankaracharya was misleading us or the VHP has backed out of its commitment,” he said, adding that the top brass of the board would be meeting here tomorrow to discuss the change in the VHP’s stand.

Earlier, while the VHP top functionary asserted that the organisation had not given any undertaking to abide by a court verdict, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said it had agreed to participate in the resolution of the dispute.

“That is why we agreed yesterday to consider a VHP proposal for constructing a Ram Temple outside the area where Babri Masjid stood before its demolition, till the court gives a final verdict on the disputed site”, an AIMPLB member Kamal Farooqui said here.

Mr Farooqui said the Board had informed the Kanchi Shankaracharya that it had noted all the points and would consider them not only in the AIMPLB but also with the Muslim leadership across the country and communicate to him its decision after deliberating the issue on March 10.

Sources said that the VHP has been posturing and striking strident notes awaiting a response from Muslims. The VHP would finally agree to accept the court verdict once the entire formula has been cleared by the AIMPLB and the NDA allies. Acharya Kishore’s assertion that no mosque can be built in Panchkosi at Ayodhya came a cropper, when he said that no Babri mosque can be built. The VHP can ill-afford to alienate a religious figure like the Shankaracharya, sources said.

This was confirmed by the VHP senior Vice-President when he said that Dharmacharas would consider any proposal coming from the Kanchi Shankaracharya.

The Vajpayee government is also going out of the way to meet the VHP demands so that a “workable solution” could be found. The Prime Minister’s men are also working hard to mobilise the NDA allies in favour of a solution that is being worked out by the Shankaracharya.

Meanwhile, amdist VHP ruling out any compromise on its three conditions, a parallel “endeavour” by Muslims and non-Sangh Parivar Hindu religious leaders here to sort out the contentious issues have also rejected the mediation of RSS and Kanchi Shankaracharya and demanded a ban on the VHP and arrest of top leaders.

At a joint meeting of Hindu leaders led by the Shankaracharya of Govardhanpeeth, Swami Adhokshajananda, and Muslim ulemas led by Maulana Nomani of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind said that no temple construction should be allowed till both communities reach a negotiated settlement. The meeting was attended, among others, by former Cabinet Secretary Zafar Saifullah and Om Prakashacharya, Secretary of the Kashi Vidwat Parishad.

When asked about Swami Adhokshajananda, the VHP senior Vice-President dubbed him as a “fraud Shankaracharya” who has no locus standi in the entire issue.

Hawks in VHP out to derail efforts
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 6
Even as the BJP-led NDA government remains geared up to avoid a delicate situation arising in Ayodhya, the hopes raised yesterday of finding an amicable solution to the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid tangle suffered a setback because of the inherent contraditions in the now on, now off stand of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

These are seen as the machinations of the hawks in the VHP wanting to derail the good offices provided by the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Sri Jayendra Saraswati.

The feeling in the higher echelons of the Atal Behari Vajpayee government is that it will be devastating if the VHP reneges on its part of the deal of not abiding by the court verdict.

Though the Shankaracharya has postponed his return by a day in the hope of thrashing out a formula agreeable to all concerned, the volte face by the VHP can bring the ongoing exercise crashing down.

If the VHP remains unbudging on abiding by the court verdict, then the meeting of the All India Muslim Law Personal Board (AIMLPB) specially convened on March 10 becomes infructuous.

However, if the VHP’s present gambit amounts to posturing for extracting the maximum mileage from the Centre it can be counter-productive because of the strong reservations expressed by certain constituents of the NDA.

The NDA government cannot afford to take chances and is prepared to adopt a hard and tough stand. In a determined bid not to create fissures in the coalition arrangement, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has asked Union Defence Minister George Fernandes to liaise closely with the Samata party, the Trinamool Congress, the DMK and the TDP which is extending support to the government from outside. The effort is to remove misgivings among the constituents of the NDA and the Opposition parties as well.

At the same time, BJP spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra appealed to Opposition parties to steer clear of the Ayodhya tangle on the plea that a negotiated settlement between Hindu and Muslim leaders on Ayodhya was the best possible solution.

He claimed that the talks between the affected parties was progressing in the right direction and felt it would be prudent for all parties to stay away as it was not a political issue. He took exception to the Congress stand that an out of court settlement was not advisable.

Meanwhile, the Congress reaffirmed that it was in the interest of all and the country to go by the court verdict in respect of the vexed Ayodhya issue.

With Parliament resuming its sitting tomorrow after a short break because of the death of Speaker G M C Balayogi in a helicopter crash, the Opposition is poised to launch a virulent frontal attack against the NDA government in the wake of the Godhra incident.