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Court urged to expedite Ayodhya case

By Harish Khare

New Delhi Feb. 17. The Vajpayee Government today used the President's address to the joint session of Parliament to call upon the judiciary to "expedite its work and give an early verdict'' in the Ayodhya dispute. The reference in the traditional address at the beginning of the budget session comes in the context of the Centre's recent application before the Supreme Court, asking the apex court to vacate the March 2002 order, which had decreed status quo in Ayodhya.

In a short, 72-word paragraph, the President, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, reiterated the known NDA agenda in the matter: "the Ayodhya dispute can be resolved either through negotiations between the two communities or through a verdict of the judiciary, which has to be accepted by all concerned.'' This clinical rendition of the familiar position does not give any indication of the pressure the Vajpayee Government finds itself subjected to from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Significantly, the President exhorted that "it is also necessary for political parties, religious leaders, and eminent social personalities to promote an atmosphere of mutual understanding, goodwill, and accommodation.'' This caveat can be seen to be directed as much against the VHP hard-liners as against those who have reason to doubt the Vajpayee Government's neutrality.

`Committed to secularism'

In the preceding paragraph, Dr. Kalam said "the Assembly elections in Gujarat have strengthened democracy and ended a sad chapter in the State's history. We must resolve to ensure that communal violence is never repeated in any part of our country. The Government remains committed to secularism.''

Today's was the first President's address delivered by Dr. Kalam, since becoming President last year. (President's address is a statement of the Government's policies and priorities, and there are no independent inputs from the Rashtrapati Bhavan). The longish address turned out to be a compendium of various development schemes undertaken by the Government.

However, the address revealed a stance of undiluted tough stand against Pakistan. While arguing that "India has always striven for peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with all its neighbours,'' it insisted that "Pakistan has consistently responded to our efforts with hatred and violence, sponsoring and actively supporting a sustained campaign of cross-border terrorism.'' The address further added that "our position remains unchanged that we are willing to resume a bilateral dialogue with Pakistan, as soon as cross-border terrorism ends.''

Otherwise, the address catalogued the Vajpayee Government's known formulations on national security.

Noting that the "national security is a matter of highest priority,'' Dr. Kalam took satisfaction from last year's deployment and subsequent redeployment of the armed forces against Pakistan along the International Border. He said that India "achieved its purpose by showing both our firmness and our self-restraint in dealing with our hostile neighbour.'' Dr. Kalam also assured the parliamentarians that the redeployment of forces had taken place "without compromising on their capacity to respond decisively to any emergency, and without lowering their vigil in Jammu and Kashmir.''

And, the President also underscored that "the chief threat to our internal security is external.'' The address pointedly mentioned "reports that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea resumed its nuclear weapons programme with the help of technology from Pakistan'' and that these reports were cause for concern, both for the security implications and for the double standards the world applied on the "question of treaty obligations as well as proliferation issues.''

In the President's address, the Vajpayee Government committed itself "to working closely with the newly-elected Government in Jammu and Kashmir in its efforts to bring peace, normalcy and economic development of the State.'' Similarly, the address took credit for the Government's "concerted efforts to rebuild peace in the northeast (which) are bearing fruit.'' At the same time, the President made it clear that the Government was determined "to take all necessary steps to check'' the problem of "illegal migration from Bangladesh (which) has assumed serious proportions and affects many States.''

The address conspicuously lowered its voice when it came to Iraq and refrained from critical reference to the United States. It simply noted: "We share the concern of the entire world on the unhappy situation relating to Iraq. We have deep interest in peace, stability, and security in that region. We hope that the wisdom of the international community, expressed through the U.N. Security Council, will result in a peaceful resolution of this matter in a manner, which would benefit humanity.''

Curiously enough, the address refrained from making any mention of the Government's much-talked about resolve to institute some kind of a "national judicial commission.'' Perhaps, the Vajpayee Government did not want to give any offence to the judiciary, especially in view of the pending application on the Ayodhya dispute.

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