The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, July 2, 2003, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Summon Kalyan, says Muslim Board
Tribune News Service and UNI

New Delhi, July 1
The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) today filed an application before the Liberhan Commission urging it to summon former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh to depose as witness in the wake of his allegations against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi that they had “conspired” the demolition.

The AIMPLB is the second in the series seeking the summoning of Mr Kalyan Singh, who was heading the BJP government in UP when the disputed structure was demolished by a mob in the presence of Mr Advani, Mr Joshi and several other senior party and Sangh Parivar leaders on December 6, 1992.

Mr Kalyan Singh, who was sacked from the BJP for anti-party activities about two years ago, had challenged earlier notices by the commission in the Allahabad and Delhi High Courts on the ground that any statement by him before the panel would “prejudice” his trial in the Ayodhya demolition case in the court.

The Supreme Court had last year clubbed both of his petitions together to be heard by the Delhi High Court.

However, the AIMPLB, in its application, said in the wake of Mr Kalyan Singh’s allegations against Mr Vajpayee, Mr Advani, Mr Joshi and other Sangh Parivar leaders, it had become “imperative” to summon him to know the truth.

Mr Kalyan Singh’s allegations against BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders had come in the wake of Centre’s counsel Lala Ram Gupta’s argument before the commission, in which he had put the blame on the former Chief Minister for the demolition.

VHP’s climbdown
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 1
In an apparent climbdown, the VHP today said it was not averse to any effort by religious heads, individuals or organisations for a “respectable” and “workable” solution to the Ayodhya issue even as it asserted that the issues of Kashi and Mathura were non-negotiable.

“We are not averse to any negotiations by any religious head, individual or organisation for resolving the Ayodhya issue,” VHP Vice-President and Spokesperson Acharya Giriraj Kishore told newspersons here.

ASI wants more time

LUCKNOW: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team, conducting excavation work at the disputed site in Ayodhya, on Tuesday sought three months’ time from the court to complete the task. The Bench put off the ASI plea till tomorrow.