Wednesday, Feb 05, 2003
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By Neena Vyas
Although officially the meeting was described as a "courtesy call", the Ayodhya issue was discussed at length. The Kanchi Acharya himself said that the Prime Minister had planned to visit him but because of security problems he had decided to call on Mr. Vajpayee. The "preparation" for the discussion was made in the morning when Sudhendra Kulkarni in the Prime Minister's Office called on the Kanchi Acharya at the Kamakshi temple where he was staying. Later, the Union Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, also called on him. Both Mr. Kulkarni and Mr. Jaitley preferred to describe the visit as a "personal darshan". The Ayodhya issue has once again emerged as an urgent problem for the Vajpayee Government and the question was reportedly discussed against the backdrop of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's ultimatum that about 40 of the 67 acres acquired by the Centre in 1994 be returned to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas controlled by it "before February 22" when a "dharam sansad" is scheduled to meet here. In the morning itself, the Kanchi Acharya clarified that he had brought "no proposals (for a solution to the Ayodhya tangle)'' as "nothing can be done" without the specific permission of the Supreme Court. But it seems that the Government is trying to work out a way in which the Kanchi Acharya's immense influence and prestige can be used to help get the Supreme Court revise its last year order that no "puja'', no construction, no activity by the VHP or anyone else was to be allowed on any part of the 67 acres. At a function of "anganwadi" workers this morning, Mr. Vajpayee said the Ayodhya issue could be resolved only through a court order or through talks and negotiations. Later this evening, a representative of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said that if any mediation was attempted, the "Prime Minister's Office should get involved directly in a transparent manner instead of through individuals claiming to be working in their own capacity when in fact the PMO is very much involved". The Kanchi Acharya's aides disclosed that several VIPs, including the Union Ministers, Anantha Kumar and I.D. Swamy, would be visiting him. It was pointed out that he had not come here with any specific Ayodhya-related mission in mind. Ahead of the meeting between the Kanchi Acharya and Mr. Vajpayee, the senior VHP leader, Ashok Singhal, along with a VHP delegation that included the RSS leader, Onkar Bhave, and the VHP propaganda in-charge, Vireshwar Dwivedi, met the Kanchi Acharya for about an hour. Mr. Singhal did not mince words when he came out. "The sants are angry with the Vajpayee Government and they could take a hard decision if the Government does not take steps to hand over the undisputed land to the Nyas (santon ko akrosh hai, weh koi bhi kathor nirnaye le sakte hain agar sarkar ne phaisla nahin kiya)," Mr. Singhal said. He is believed to have discussed not only Ayodhya but also the question of cow protection and the rising pollution of the Ganga, which had recently led some "sadhus" to register their protest by not taking the traditional dip in the river on "amavasya". Naturally, the VHP would like the Kanchi Acharya to persuade the Prime Minister "to do something" tangible on Ayodhyato enable the VHP to tell the "sants" that there was forward movement on the task of building a Ram temple. The VHP is afraid that the anger of the "sants" against the Government could turn against it for making "false promises".
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