Author: HT Correspondent
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: June 10, 2003
The Congress tried to walk the tightrope
in obliquely opposing Kanchi Shankaracharya's remarks commanding P.V. Narasimha
Rao for installing a make-shift temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya
without expressly refuting or criticising him.
The seer had praised Rao in the
presence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday.
"Sharing a platform does not mean
sharing of perceptions," spokesperson Anand Sharma said, trying hard to
avoid the political and religious minefield that a clear-cut refutation
of the Shankaracharya's remarks would have involved. The party, he
stressed, favoured "a judicial verdict on Ayodhya which was final and acceptable
to all".
Grilled at the party's regular briefing,
Sharma's one-line responses to all questions attracted comments that the
party was perhaps afraid of annoying the Hindu voters by reacting to the
Shankaracharya's remarks.
Besides praising Rao, the Shankarachaya
had also said that while a majority of Muslims were ready to give up their
claim on the disputed site some leaders were acting as hurdles.
Sharma withstood queries on the
irony of the seer's praise for Rao for an act for which the Congress was
demanding the resignations of Union Ministers L.K. Advani and M.M. Joshi.
He was also asked whether the party
endorsed the seer's remarks and if it did not, why wasn't it categorical
about it.
"Her silence was neither consent
nor disapproval," Sharma said, stressing the function was not dedicated
to Ayodhya.
Sonia was sharing the platform to
felicitate the seer on the golden jubilee of his "peetharohana".
