M A I N   N E W S

Centre for talks with Hindus, Muslims on Ayodhya

Chennai, October 19
The Centre today said it was making efforts to hold talks between Hindu and Muslim leaders for an amicable settlement to the vexed Ayodhya imbroglio and hoped that the issue would be resolved within a year.

“We are ready to resolve the issue by holding negotiations with both Muslim and Hindu leaders and we are trying our best to arrange for talks with the leaders of both communities,” Union Minister of State for Home Swami Chinmayanand told reporters here on the sidelines of a function organised by the VHP to distribute prizes to students.

Though the Centre has been backing peace moves, including the Kanchi Shankaracharya’s initiative, it is for the first time it has openly acknowledged making efforts in the direction.

Mr Chinmayanand, the Centre’s pointman on Ayodhya, said the recent ASI findings on the existence of a temple at the place where the Babri masjid once stood proved the Hindu community’s claim.

PATNA: In a hardening of stand, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) today said if Parliament came out with a legislation for temple construction at the disputed site in Ayodhya, it would move the Supreme Court challenging it.

The board demanded the reconstruction of a mosque at the site where the Babri Mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992. — PTI