VHP chief asks Opposition to make stand clear on Ayodhya

By Our Special CorrespondentVIJAYAWADA, DEC 16. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief, Mr Ashok Singhal, today came down heavily on `secular fundamentalists` for stalling Parliament for eight days and not allowing debate, ``taking democracy to ransom.''

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Singhal alleged that these ``secular fundamentalists'' were against anything Hindu and espoused the cause of Muslims in a bid to garner their votes. Though Ram temple was not on the agenda of the NDA Government, it seemed to be on the agenda of Opposition parties, he felt. He wanted all political parties to come out clearly whether they wanted a mandir or mosque at Ayodhya. He expressed happiness that the small idol of Sri Ram caused so much furore in Parliament and took away eight days costing Rs. 2.5 crores to the exchequer. The idol had won several battles before and it would win many more in future, he said.

He expressed happiness over the stand taken by the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, on the temple issue. The Prime Minister reflected the sentiments and emotions of the country. But the NDA had to abide by certain rules to provide governance to the country. ``The NDA is colourless, odourless and tasteless,'' he chuckled. Mr Singhal came down heavily on the Congress for wooing Muslims more now than say four decades ago. The ideology of the Congress had failed as admitted by Mr N D Tiwari after the Shilanyas.

Mr Singhal said that Ram temple would be built at the disputed site itself. Construction work would begin on the day fixed by the Sants meeting at Prayag on the occasion of Kumbhmela. He asserted that the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute was not justiciable because it was not a property dispute but linked with the religious belief and emotions of the people.

He surprised presspersons by contending that there never existed a mosque at the disputed site and what the kar sevaks pulled down on December 6 was in fact a temple. They demolished it in a bid to construct a new temple in place of the 400-year-old structure. He said Babar`s general converted the temple into a mosque in a hurry. He pointed out that the Babri masjid had no minarets. The structure was pulled down 77 times before by warring Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya.

He refuted the contention of Ms Nirmala Deshpande that the kar sevaks had used explosives to demolish the structure on December 6. He said that the temple walls were hollow and kar sevaks pulled them down by muscle power using ropes. He said they recovered useful information from the debris to prove that it was a temple. He also disputed the contention that Sri Ram was only a mythological character but not a historical figure. This theory was spread by the British, he said. He pointed out that the remnants of the bridge constructed across the ocean at Rameswaram were seen in a satellite imagery recently and it proved conclusively that Sri Ram was a historic character. People adore him and believe that he was born at Ayodhya. Temple should be constructed to honour their sentiments, he felt.

Mr Singhal pointed out that the Ram idol was installed at the site in 1949 when Nehru was Prime Minister, Shilanyas for the temple was performed in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister and the disputed structure was pulled down when Mr P V Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister. He did not agree that the temple construction would not be taken up during the NDA regime. He said that they would begin construction on the day fixed by the Sants without waiting for Court orders. He turned down the suggestion that VHP was building the BJP Government at the Centre rather than Ram temple at Ayodhya.

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