PM for temple at disputed site

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, DEC. 7. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today just stopped short of articulating his party's old formula for resolving the Ayodhya tangle, which was `Mandir wahin banayenge.' (We will build the temple only at the disputed site).

Elaborating on his statement made yesterday, Mr. Vajpayee suggested two ways of resolving the Ayodhya dispute. One, the courts could give a verdict ``in favour of the Ram temple at the disputed site'' (kort uske paksh mein phaisla dein); or two, Hindus and Muslims could talk and arrive at a decision - ``Muslims could decide to allow Hindus to build the Ram temple where it exists (at the disputed site), and Hindus could offer the Muslims an alternative site for a mosque.''

Elaborating his statement made yesterday, Mr. Vajpayee suggested one way to resolve the outstanding problem in Ayodhya would be for Hindus and Muslims to talk and arrive at a common decision. And then he suggested: ``The mandir (temple) can be built where it already exists, and the masjid (mosque) can come up at an alternative site.'' It was a clear indication that the Ram temple should come up at the disputed site where a makeshift temple existed before and after the demolition.

This ``formula'' comes close to his own solution to the problem offered before the demolition of the disputed structure in 1992, when he had said that the Babri Masjid could be ``respectfully relocated elsewhere'' and the temple could come up at the disputed site.

Mr. Vajpayee spoke to reporters informally, although the plan was well-rehearsed. The BJP spokesperson, Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, had let it be known in the afternoon that Mr. Vajpayee would be clarifying his remarks of yesterday at the Iftaar hosted by Mr. Shahnawaz Husain, Minister of State for Food Processing, this evening.

The Prime Minister began by saying that his NDA partners were unhappy, but he had met them and they were satisfied. His remarks yesterday giving a clean chit to his chargesheeted Ministers were ``not meant to influence the courts or the CBI''. The courts, he said, were independent and would arrive at their own judgment without fear or favour, and although the CBI was admittedly ``under him'' he had never interfered with its functioning. Saying his party had ``no secret Ayodhya agenda'' and that he was committed to the NDA agenda, he nevertheless added that ``the Ayodhya dispute had to be resolved,'' thus bringing the issue out of hibernation.

Mr. Vajpayee said ``the unfinished task'' he talked about yesterday referred to the ``unfinished task of resolving the dispute''. Then came the crucial statement. There were two ways of resolving the Ayodhya tangle. One, ``If the court were to give a verdict and all concerned parties were to accept it, that could be a solution.''

Two, Hindus and Muslims could sit together and ``arrive at a common decision''. He went on to stress that ``how and where the mandir will be built is of critical importance. The Muslims, after all, have not objected to the building of a temple, where and how this is to be built is the question.''

After a pause, Mr. Vajpayee added: ``The mandir can be built where it already exists, the masjid can be built on an alternative site.'' Later, PMO sources tried to explain that he meant this as a solution if agreed upon by Hindus and Muslims, but clearly Mr. Vajpayee had left no one in doubt that this was his preferred solution.

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