The Hindu : `Judicial verdict only solution'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 07, 2003

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`Judicial verdict only solution'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 6. The rejection of the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswati's formula for resolving the Ayodhya dispute has come as no surprise to various political parties.

However, the reactions were very different. The Congress and the Left parties strongly reiterated that a solution through judicial verdict was the only way out and charged the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, with trying to get political mileage from the attempt. The BJP emphasised that a negotiated settlement was best, even if it had failed this time.

The BJP Parliamentary Party spokesperson, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, said that "the language in which the AIMPLB had rejected the Kanchi Sankaracharya's formula was objectionable", but did not want to comment when asked about the VHP's earlier disapproval of the formula.

The VHP leader, Giriraj Kishore, described the Sankaracharya's effort as a "futile exercise" which was bound to end in failure. "He should not have sent any proposal to the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board." The Hindus, he said, wanted "self-respect".

"We insist that the BJP-led Government bring in legislation to resolve the issue. If it cannot do it, it should resign."

Senior Congress leader, Pranab Mukherjee, speaking to The Hindu from Shimla, felt that "the Prime Minister should have done more homework (before lending his weight to the Sankaracharya's effort)... he wanted to use religious leaders". The Congress spokesperson, Anand Sharma, said that the Congress had been consistently saying that a judicial verdict was the only possible solution and he was not all surprised that the recent effort had failed.

The CPI(M) politburo member, Prakash Karat, said court decision alone would be a lasting solution to the dispute and since the judicial process was on, any move to bypass it would not help. He suggested that the Vajpayee Government give up efforts "to push for a temple at Ayodhya" utilising methods outside the judicial process.

The CPI national secretary, D. Raja, said the party never approved of the Kanchi Acharya's move since the Ayodhya case title suit was pending. The recent effort had only created another controversy. In any case, the recent moves by the BJP and the VHP on the issue have ``only been an effort to legitimise the illegal demolition of the Babri Masjid.''

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