The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, March 15, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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PM allays fears on law and order
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 14
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today allayed apprehensions about any untoward incidents in Ayodhya on Friday and affirmed that everything was under control.

“The law and order situation is being monitored constantly,” Mr Vajpayee said responding to clarifications about his statement regarding the Supreme Court order on the Ayodhya issue.

Mr Vajpayee was categoric that the government did not intend moving the court again. He said the government would not take any decision out of court.

He clarified that the question of giving directions to the Attorney General did not arise. He clarified that inter-ministerial talks have been going on over the Ayodhya issue as this was a natural way of running the adminisatration.

While hailing former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani’s clarification on the role of the Attorney General and suggestion on proper understanding of the 1994 Supreme Court judgement on the controversial issue of temple construction, Mr Vajpayee said he was happy that the eminent jurist and former union minister had shown the way. He said the 1994 judgement needed to be discussed in detail. “Mr Jethmalani has said some good things though I wish he had stated these earlier,” he quipped.

He said that yesterday’s judgement had created a new situation whereby the hitherto undisputed land had also become disputed. “But, we will follow the verdict that has been pronounced.”

He said non-government organisations needed to be motivated to resolve the Ayodhya tangle. He said the gesture of Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Kanchi to come and hold a dialogue with religious leaders had helped to empower society.

“What is the trouble in resolving issues through dialogue. All these initiatives should not be looked upon in a censorious manner,” the PM said.

At this point, Congress member, Arjun Singh rose to draw the attention of the Prime Minister to certain persons who were hell bent on defying the government and the Supreme Court verdict.

Mr Vajpayee said he was in agreement with Mr Arjun Singh on the issue and that there could not be any difference of opinion.

The Prime Minister asked members not to draw inferences from news reports and investigate facts mentioned in the reports on their own. Raising a question on the credibility of the electronic media, he asked whether all that was telecast was gospel truth. “I’m not criticising the media but it is better to cross-check what appears in newspapers,” said Mr Vajpayee who has himself been a journalist.

PM assures House on SC order
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 14
Bowing to pressure from the Opposition, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today clarified in Parliament the government’s position on the Ayodhya issue, saying the apex court’s ruling would be implemented in “letter and spirit”.

Mr Vajpayee also defended Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee’s oral submission on symbolic puja at the undisputed site in Ayodhya in the Supreme Court yesterday.

Though Lok Sabha proceedings were stalled yesterday over the Opposition’s insistence that the Prime Minister himself gave a statement, his presence today did not improve matters. An agitated Opposition refused to seek clarifications and a remark by Congress member S.Jaipal Reddy evoked strong reactions from the treasury benches, leading to adjournment of the House, first till lunch, and finally for the day.

“I wish to assure the House that adequate preparations have been made to maintain law and order in Ayodhya and to ensure that the March 13 order of the Supreme Court is adhered to,” Vajpayee said in identical statements in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

“I wish to categorically and unambiguously state that the government will implement the court’s order in letter and spirit”, he said.

He clarified that no affidavit or written submissions had been filed on behalf of the government in the Supreme Court.

The AG had told the court that temporary use would not be violative of the status quo order passed by the Supreme Court as this was referable only to the disputed site and not to the undisputed acquired land.

The Prime Minister recalled that the government had made this point clear through the President’s address to both Houses of Parliament on February 25.

“The Government of India, being the statutory receiver, is duty bound to maintain the status quo at the disputed site in Ayodhya,” he said, quoting from the address.

He contended that it was the constitutional duty of the AG to interpret a law or a judgement of the court when asked by the court to do so.

“This is what the AG did when the Supreme Court asked him yesterday if symbolic puja on the undisputed acquired land in Ayodhya was permissible,” he said.