New Delhi, February 4
In the background of the hotting up of the Ayodhya imbroglio with the VHP setting a deadline on the possession of disputed land, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, met the Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Jayandra Saraswati, this evening with indications that the government may move the apex court to expedite the decision on the vexed issue.
The Kanchi Seer, who had been holding parleys with VHP and Muslim leaders since the failure of his peace mission ahead of the ‘Shiladaan’ programme in March last year, met Mr Vajpayee for over an hour after talking among others to senior Sangh Parivar bigwigs, including VHP Supremo Ashok Singhal.
The VHP should be patient and everything would be all right, the seer has reportedly stressed with the Sangh Parivar leaders. He is understood to have urged the Prime Minister to allow the ‘nyas’ to start building the temple on the ‘undisputed land’ while maintaining status quo on the disputed site till the court passes its verdict in the case, the sources said.
On his part, Mr Vajpayee requested the pontiff to use his ‘good offices’ to find a resolution to the issue through dialogue. The seer, however, did not speak to waiting mediapersons.
At their meeting with the seer, RSS leaders expressed displeasure at the lack of ‘any forward movement’ on the issue and urged him to impress on Mr Vajpayee to ensure that all legal obstacles in the path of temple construction were removed.
Mr Ram Madhav said: “It is a positive step. We see light at the end of the tunnel. We hope for some concrete outcome”.
However, Mr Singhal, who was apparently not at ease with the peace moves, later observed here that the VHP did not want the Shankaracharya to mediate. “We have seen how he was humiliated last time,” Mr Singhal said.
Earlier, Law Minister Arun Jaitley had a meeting with the Shankaracharya and sought to ascertain from the religious leader about the whole issue and the views of the disputing parties.
Mr Jaitley had met the Kanchi
seer on the specific instruction of the Prime Minister, the sources said.Earlier, Mr Vajpayee had confirmed his meeting with Shankaracharya saying that the government wanted to resolve the issue through talks. He said he had no plans to meet any other group.
“I am meeting the Kanchi Shankaracharya today. We will hold discussions. See what happens,” Mr Vajpayee told reporters after addressing a gathering of anganwadi workers. “Our policy is to solve all questions through dialogue. Ayodhya issue is included in it,” he said, adding dialogue was a continuous process.
Asked whether he had plans to meet some other group, he replied in the negative saying: “Let this meeting take place. After that we will decide.”
Confirming the meeting with the Prime Minister this evening, the Shankaracharya said: “Last time there was a need for intervention. But this time there is no such need.”
