The Hindu : Togadia seeks Sonia's support for temple

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003

National

National

Togadia seeks Sonia's support for temple

VIDISHA MARCH 3. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) general secretary, Praveen Togadia, today urged the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to give support for construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Addressing a public meeting here, Mr. Togadia said that in a way the Congress had launched a movement for construction of the temple when Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister had got opened its locks in 1984.

"So now Sonia, as wife of Rajiv Gandhi, must help in the construction of the temple. He said Muslims should not have any problem in handing over land near the temple.

The India Union Muslim League (IUML), meanwhile, said that the VHP or the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) were not entitled to get even the so-called ``undisputed'' part of the acquired land under the Ayodhya Act of 1993.

The Act stipulates that after adjudication of the main dispute, the Government can finally transfer the land to a trust or a body formed only after commencement of the Act, and both the VHP and the Nyas were formed much before that, the IUML president, G.M. Banatwalla, said in a statement in New Delhi.

The ``undisputed'' chunk includes the land belonging to eight temples and other trusts which do not admit the VHP claim, and one of them have filed a suit against them, he said.

Besides, there is a Waqf land with four mosques (other than the Babri Masjid), 13 nazul plots of Muslim graveyard and a famous `dargah' and other Waqf properties, Mr. Banatwalla added.

The IUML president said the demand for legislation to enable construction of the temple even on the disputed land is subversion of the Constitution, as Parliament cannot decide a property dispute pending before the judiciary.

Petition dismissed

The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition challenging Z-plus security accorded by the Vajpayee Government to Mr. Togadia.

A Division Bench, comprising Justices Usha Mehra and Pradeep Nandrajog, dismissed the petition filed by NGO `Real Cause' after recording the statement of the Additional Solicitor-General, K.K. Sud, that security to Mr. Togadia had been provided in accordance with the Central Government (security) guidelines.

The petition, filed by the NGO through its president, Kamran Siddiqui, alleged that Mr. Togadia was being provided police cover in violation of the VIP security guidelines. Besides, he should be booked under POTA and NSA, it said.

While about Rs. 1 lakh a day was spent on his security though he was neither an MP nor a VIP, Mr. Togadia went around making inflammatory speeches.

Mr. Siddiqui said he had written a letter to the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, requesting that he order the arrest of Mr. Togadia and Mr. Ashok Singhal for making provocative speeches leading to communal tension, and for saying that they were not ready to accept the Supreme Court's decision on the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute.

`Sangharsh samiti'

In Ayodhya, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has constituted a "Ram Janmabhoomi nirman sangharsh samiti" as part of the build-up for a Ram temple movement. The "sangharsh samiti" (struggle committee) was set up after the recent decision of the "dharam sansad" to launch a people's movement for construction of a Ram temple. — PTI, UNI

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