Temple issue: PM accused of influencing judiciary

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, AUG. 29. Taking exception to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's ``endorsement'' of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-determined date of March 12 for starting the construction of the proposed Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, Syed Shahbuddin of the All-India Muslim Majlis-e- Mushawarat Babri Masjid Movement Coordination Committee has charged Mr. Vajpayee with trying to influence the judiciary. He has also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party's allies for remaining silent.

Referring to Mr. Vajpayee's statements in Lucknow and Parliament that a solution to the Ayodhya problem could be found by March next year, Syed Shahbuddin said the Prime Minister had virtually suggested to the judiciary that it should ``hand in a judgment favourable to the Sangh Parivar before March 2002,'' a hint which ``is in essence a contempt of court.''

In a statement here today, he said the ``Prime Minister has not only brought the Ayodhya dispute back to the centre-stage of national politics but has tried to muster forces in retreat in Uttar Pradesh and lift the sinking morale of his cadres.''

Pointing out that the BJP allies in the National Democratic Alliance had insisted on keeping the Ayodhya dispute and other contentious issues out of the NDA agenda for governance, he wondered why they were silent now when the Prime Minister himself was trying to push the Ayodhya issue. He specifically mentioned the Telugu Desam Party (supporting the NDA from outside) the DMK, the Akali Dal and the Samata Party (partners in Government) and asked them to ``clarify their position and publicly disassociate themselves from any move by the Central Government which gives, or appears to give, a free hand to the VHP and the Sangh Parivar to do as they like.''

Mr. Shahbuddin warned that the Sangh Parivar had set March 2002 as the deadline after which it could go ahead and take the law into its hand, as was done in December 1992. And the non- BJP parties in the NDA ``should not underwrite the anti-national and anti-secular agenda of the VHP to vitiate the social environment.'' If not checked, it would ``undermine the legitimacy of the State'' through the open support for ``a patently unlawful act.''

At the Kumbh Mela earlier this year, the VHP had demanded that the disputed land, acquired by the Centre through an Ordinance, be handed over to the trust managed by it so that it could begin construction of the temple by Mahashivratri of 2002 - March 12 - and warned that it would not wait any longer. The VHP was also planning some other ``action'' to build up the issue by that time.

Today, when contacted, Mr. Giriraj Kishore and Mr. Vishnu Hari Dalmia, senior leaders of the VHP, said that so far they had no information on what the Government had done or was doing with respect to handing over the disputed land to the VHP.

The Law Ministry sources also denied that the Government was trying to find a way out to hand over the acquired land to the VHP or any other body. Legal experts have pointed out that the Ordinance through which the Centre had acquired the land had itself indicated that the Government would hold the land as a trustee till a final decision by the courts.

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