The Hindu : Muslim Law Board has an 'open mind'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 20, 2003

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Muslim Law Board has an 'open mind'

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW JUNE 19. While the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) indicated today that it had an "open mind" on the negotiations with the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswati, to resolve the Ayodhya dispute, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad seems all set to scuttle the negotiations.

After meeting the Muslim religious leaders here earlier this month, the Sankaracharya is said to have assured them that he would come up with concrete proposals. The Muslim leaders had urged the Acharya to give his proposals in writing and they are still awaiting them.

Maulana Sajjad Nomani, AIMPLB member, told the media here today that while the Board had full faith in the judicial process and would accept the court verdict in the Ayodhya case, it also respected the sincere attempts by a person of the stature of the Sankaracharya. If a solution to the dispute could be found through dialogue, it would be welcomed by the Board, he said.

Describing Ayodhya as a very complicated issue, he said the Board favoured a continuation of the dialogue between the two communities in the interest of peace and amity. It had welcomed the Sankaracharya's efforts only to give dialogue a chance.

Asked if the Board was prepared to compromise the status of the mosque which, according to Islam, was a place of God and could not be abandoned, the Maulana said Islam also disapproved of offering `namaz' (prayers) at a disputed place. Islam was a religion of peace and did not support bloodshed. There were several different aspects of the issue and the Board was ready to consider everything in perspective.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad International general secretary, Ashok Singhal, however, found no merit in the negotiations initiated by the Sankaracharya. He was uncharitable to the Kanchi Acharya as well as to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who is reported to have played his own role in the dialogue initiated by the Acharya.

Mr. Singhal today described the negotiations as "bargaining" over Hindu interests and indicated that he would oppose even the slightest concession that the Acharya might be prepared to concede to Muslims. He aggressively raised the issues of the Kashi Vishwanath temple at Varanasi and the Krishna Janmabhoomi at Mathura, reiterating that there could be no compromise on these two shrines. Hindu sants had reiterated this point so many times.

While rejecting the Acharya's efforts, Mr. Singhal pointed out that the Sunni Central Waqf Board, which alone was the party to the Ayodhya case, was observing "complete silence", adding that any effort to arrive at a compromise with the Muslim Personal Law Board was thus meaningless.

Mr. Singhal said the Acharya was well aware of Hindu sentiments and would never make any commitment harming their interests.

Mr. Singhal warned the BJP that its "doublespeak" on Hindu interests would cost it heavily. To enjoy power in the company of the NDA, it had placed on the backburner its own agenda, including the Ram temple issue and a common civil code for all the citizens of the country. "The BJP would have to revert to its old agenda; otherwise it would invite its doom in elections."

Mr. Singhal said that some "secular newspapers" had claimed that the ASI excavations had revealed no trace of any ancient construction at the site where the Babri masjid came to be built later. This was "misleading and contrary to the facts". He charged that these newspapers were "on the payroll of Pakistan.'' Mr. Singhal said that out of the 72 trenches dug by the ASI, 10 were situated in a location which earlier formed the bed of the Ghaghra river. In these trenches nothing substantial had come out of the digging. But in the other trenches the bases of as many as 38 ancient pillars had been revealed.

Maulana Nomani, however, refused to react to Mr. Singhal's aggressive stand, saying that the VHP did not represent the entire Hindu community. "It is for Hindus at large to decide who really represents their interests," he added.

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