Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader leader L.K. Advani feels “vindicated” about his Ayodhya ‘rath yatra' in the wake of the Allahabad High Court verdict and prefers a negotiated settlement for building a Ram temple at the place where the makeshift now stands.
Mr. Advani, the mascot of the temple campaign who launched the ‘rath yatra' in 1989, also rejects criticism that the last week's judgment of the Lucknow Bench “puts faith above law,” saying it was only a case of “faith upheld by law.“
He strongly endorses his party president Nitin Gadkari's suggestion that Muslims could build a mosque “outside the complex” in Faizabad on the banks of river Saryu.
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In the course of an interview with PTI, the BJP leader, who will turn 84 next month, said: “Yes, I do feel vindicated because I believe that until 1989 BJP was not part of this (temple) movement which actually started in 1949,” he said, to a question whether the judgment has vindicated his temple campaign launched in 1989 from Somnath to Ayodhya.
Replying to questions on what is the way forward and whether the BJP and Sangh Parivar would take the initiative for a negotiated settlement, Mr. Advani said, “the way forward is an agreement between the two communities that this (construction of temple at the disputed place in Ayodhya) should happen. What should happen let them work it out.”
Mr. Advani said so far as the judgment was concerned it made obvious that the desire of “those millions” who wanted a Ram temple to be constructed at what was believed to be the birthplace of Ram would happen. “But it would be good if this is not just a court's decision but also the decision of both communities together.”
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