Sunday, Jan 12, 2003
Sunday, Jan 12, 2003 |
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By Vinay Kumar
After the efforts of various religious heads, including last year's initiative by the Sankarcharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Jayendra Saraswati, failed to make any headway and the strident Vishwa Hindu Parishad drove the Vajpayee Government to the brink of crisis at the time of "shila pujan", the thinking in the Government is said to be to get prominent Muslim leaders to the negotiating table. In an informal interaction with the newspersons at the BJP headquarters here, Mr. Hussain said the Government was always "continuing its efforts" to arrive at a negotiated settlement. Though refusing to disclose anything specific, Mr. Hussain, the only sole Muslim Minister in the Vajpayee Government, said the BJP had been able to create confidence in the minority community on the party's sincerity towards solving the Ayodhya problem and also to convince the people of its secular credentials. "The effort is to let the Ayodhya problem find a solution along the lines of Hindu-Muslim friendship in which both the communities are vigorously involved to construct a befitting monument of national unity in the holy city. ``We want Ayodhya to be a symbol of unity, peace, harmony and friendship and not something associated with enmity and hatred between the two communities,'' he said. Mr. Hussain, who represents the Kishanganj constituency of Bihar in the Lok Sabha, said there was a growing feeling in the Muslim leaders that the community's interests were best represented by elected representatives who could speak from a position of strength. He claimed that the interests of the Muslim community could not be represented by clerics and religious heads alone who often had a large following but little influence over all sections. "Their efforts alone cannot make any headway," he said. Asked about the latest debate on Hindutva, he felt there was no need for Muslims to be apprehensive about it as true Hindutva could never be rigid and fundamentalist in nature. Part of the initial effort was a round of "dinner diplomacy", undertaken recently by the Minister. It was attended by 35 Muslim MPs from all parties. Though at the informal gathering any effort to float a forum was resented, it was felt that elected representatives could play a bigger role in solving tricky issues. Yet another round of "dinner diplomacy" was organised by the former Union Minister and Congress leader, C.K. Jaffer Sharief, which was also attended by about 35 Muslim MPs. Mr. Hussain said the BJP-led coalition Government had given Rs. 163 crores for Haj flights and travel and had started special flights from Lucknow and Srinagar. Yet another Haj flight would be started from Nagpur on Monday.
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