Author: Smita Gupta
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 24, 2003
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
has turned down an informal suggestion by the Union government that it
get the stay connection with the disputed and undisputed land in Ayodhya
vacated, sources said.
The VHP turned down this suggestion
on the ground that if it went to court, it would indirectly be accepting
the courts' jurisdiction. It would then not be able to say that the Ram
temple issue is a matter of faith, nor take to the streets again to whip
up sentiment on the issue. As one VHP leader put it: "Our hands would be
tied if we went to court and we would lose the upper hand in the agitation."
The Centre's suggestion to the VHP
comes in the wake of the latter announcing shortly after the BJP swept
Gujarat last month, that it would step up its pressure on the Centre to
permit construction of the Ram Temple. The VHP had said that its future
course of action would be decided at the Dharam Sansad in Delhi, scheduled
for February 22 and 23, just days ahead of the assembly elections in Himachal.
VHP senior functionary Acharya Giriraj
Kishore's contention is that the original SC ruling was that barring the
area actually required for the construction of the temple, or mosque, if
the final verdict went that way, the land, that is, the Ram Janmabhhomi
Nyas's 42 acres, could be returned to it, so that it could begin construction
of the outer walls there.
Kishore's point is that when the
SC had clarified last year that no construction could begin on either the
disputed or undisputed land, it was a "violation" of an earlier ruling.
