DMK against raising new issues on Ayodhya row

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 9. The DMK, a partner of the BJP-led Central Government, today expressed itself against any new issue being raised regarding the Ayodhya temple row, as the NDA's ``National Agenda for Governance'' had ``pledged to have a moratorium on contentious issues''.

``Raising fresh issues now cannot be accepted,'' in the context of controversial issues such as Ayodhya, uniform civil code and deletion of Article 370 of the Constitution (conferring special status on Kashmir) not finding a place in the NDA's common agenda, the DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, said in a statement here.

Reiterating that the DMK would continue to protect the minorities and be their ``affectionate friend as ever'', Mr. Karunanidhi said the National Agenda had specifically called for putting an end to divisiveness and being committed to ``reaching out to the minorities,'' besides safeguarding their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India.

On the recent remarks of the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, on the Ayodhya issue, Mr. Karunanidhi, without explicitly referring to the former's statements, said the NDA's common agenda had given a ``clear commitment'' to secularism - ``the emotional harmony of all Indians and full protection of minorities.''

``The NDA is secular. In the NDA, there are parties holding different views. There should be a consensus on common issues and thrusting a different point of view cannot be accepted,'' he said.

The NDA's common agenda was the benchmark for all the allies and it was also for sharing the hopes and anxieties of the people of India, besides urging the minorities to ``hold hands and walk together to build a resurgent, modern India,'' he said.

As far as the DMK was concerned, it held the ``same strong feeling with which it condemned the demolition of the Babri Masjid,'' in 1992. Taking a dig at some of the Opposition parties, including the Congress, Mr. Karunanidhi said that those who were in power at the Centre in 1992 were ``silent spectators to the demolition while the Army was stationed close by.''

Those ``who spoke in support of the `kar seva' at the National Development Council meeting (1991) and those who sent men and material from here for the `kar seva' are now shedding crocodile tears,'' Mr. Karunanidhi said in an apparent reference to the AIADMK, which was then ruling the State.

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