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Court verdict will be of no importance: VHP
By Neena Vyas
NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad today quoted chapter and verse from the Supreme Court judgment of October 1994 to buttress its case for transfer of the acquired land in Ayodhya to the trust controlled by it. At the same time, it said the Ram temple issue was ``not justiciable'' that it was ``a matter of faith'' and that even the final court verdict in the Ayodhya case would be of ``no importance'' as its temple plan included a sanctum sanctorum on the 80 feet by 40 feet of the disputed land.
Sticking to the position that construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya would begin anytime after March 12, with or without a Government decision on handing over the acquired land to it, Ashok Singhal, international president of the VHP, said that ``faith was not justiciable'' and that the VHP was not prepared to abide by any court decision.
``In matters of faith, how can we accept the court verdict? We did not determine where Kaushalya (mother of Rama) gave birth to Ram Lalla,'' Mr Singhal said. If the courts had failed to give a verdict for the last 50 years ``we Hindus are not responsible'', Mr. Singhal added.
Mr. Singhal said the VHP temple plan included a sanctum sanctorum on the very site where the makeshift Ram temple stands today and where the central dome of the Babri masjid was brought down on December 6, 1992, and therefore any court verdict in the Ayodhya case in relation to the disputed area ``would have no importance'' as far as the VHP was concerned. In short, it would not be bound by it. While admitting that there was a Supreme Court order directing the Government to maintain a status quo at the disputed land (where the sanctum sanctorum would be), the VHP saw no harm and no illegality in the Government handing over the land. ``Unlike private buildings, temple buildings do not have to have the plans passed by any municipality,'' the VHP leader, Giriraj Kishore, emphasised.
Avoiding a confrontationist posture, Mr. Singhal said the door for talks with the Government would remain open till March 12. This was contrary to the stand of the VHP general secretary, Praveen Togadia, who said two days ago that there would be no more talks. Mr. Singhal said he would also meet the Union Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, who had been asked by the Prime Minister to give his Ministry's opinion on the ``legal and constitutional'' possibility of transferring some of the 67 acres to the VHP.
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