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Hindutva and BJP allies |
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Vishwa Hindu Parishad vice-president, Giriraj Kishore, has said that the Parishad would begin the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya within a year. “It has become very difficult to wait for the court verdict. We wish to begin the construction of the temple within a year. Construction material is ready. We can’t wait any more,” he said. He charged the BJP with pushing the Hindutva agenda on to the backburner but said that the party was now trying to include it in its agenda.
Participating in the two-day governing council meeting of the VHP Kishore said the announcement could be interpreted as either a deadline or an ultimatum to the Government.
The VHP reacted sharply to BJP president Venkaiah Naidu’s comment that the party stood for all communities, demanding that the BJP spell out categorically whether it stood for the Hindu cause or the Muslims.
Asserting that the VHP would not tolerate any compromise on the Hindutva issue, its international general secretary Praveen Togadia demanded that the BJP should clearly spell out if it stood exclusively for the cause of the 85 per cent “patriotic Hindus”. He was reacting to the BJP chief’s statement that “we are in favour of not only Hindus, but also other communities, including Muslims and Christians”.
Meanwhile, the Liberhan Commission, probing the sequence of events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, has completed all oral arguments and evidence after more than 11 years of its constitution.
The Commission, set up on December 16, 1992 will hold its last sitting on July 20 to receive written submissions from the newly-appointed Central Government counsel and other residual matters.
The Commission which started its effective sittings from January 1993 was in abeyance for about two years because of certain interim orders passed by the Delhi High Court. It started regular hearing from 1995. The sittings were initially held in Lucknow and later in Delhi.
The Commission concluded the recording of evidence on January 22, 2003 and after final arguments from counsel for the Central Government it could not proceed further since it was felt that the examination of the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh, was desirable. Mr. Singh, who was reluctant to adduce evidence, finally gave his version through his counsel yesterday and today. With this, all evidence had been closed.
Fernandes word of caution
There are signs that the BJP allies in the NDA may not look favourably at the saffron party moves to take a pro-Hindutva line. Janata Dal-United president George Fernandes for instance has said that his party has a “tactical alliance” with the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance was not functioning on the basis of “BJP’s thoughts and programmes”. Fernandes was reacting to a question on the indications of BJP’s return to the Hindutva-fold during the recently held executive meeting in Mumbai. Fernandes hinted at reviewing the party’s alliance with the BJP saying party members have expressed their reservations against the saffron party. The question has been raised in a big meeting of the party, “ so it is my responsibility to place it before the JD-U’s national executive next month,” he told reporters without making it clear whether the alliance with the BJP would be reviewed at the state or national level.
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