AYODHYA, April 6: India's deputy prime minister said on Tuesday that agreement was in sight on resolving one of India's most explosive religious disputes over construction of Ram temple on the ruins of Babri mosque.
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, on a cross-country campaign trek for national elections due this month, said in the northern temple-studded town of Ayodhya where Babri mosque is located "some quiet progress" had already been made in settling the row.
He said he was confident that agreement could be reached soon between Hindu and Muslim leaders to decide the future of the site where Hindu fanatics destroyed Babri mosque in 1992, triggering nationwide riots in which at least 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, died.
The dispute has become a major flashpoint between India's majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities. "A negotiated settlement will be the most desirable to resolve the Ayodhya issue," said Advani, 76, who was present on the day when a frenzied Hindu mob demolished the mosque and was only recently cleared of conspiracy charges.
"We've already made some quiet progress and we will be able to reach an agreement involving Hindu and Muslim representatives shortly after a new government is in place," he told reporters.
Advani made the statement on the 24th anniversary of the founding of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) which is expected to return to power at the head of a coalition government.
The BJP rode from near oblivion to national prominence in the late 1980s on a shrill platform of Hindu revivalism, including promises of building a temple on the site of the mosque built by Mughal Emperors centuries ago.
But the party has lately sought to broaden its appeal to embrace India's mainstream and tried to woo the country's at least 130 million Muslims to join the party fold.
To ensure the climate for resolving the dispute was not "unsettled or vitiated by politics," Advani said the BJP had decided not to turn the temple into an electoral issue. "This election will be fought by us on development, government and leadership," he said.
Advani's journey across the country of more than one billion people is aimed at showcasing rapid economic growth under the BJP's leadership. The secular roadshow is in stark contrast to his last nationwide tour in 1990 when he campaigned to build a temple on the mosque site, igniting religious fervour that helped to bring the BJP to power.
On Monday, Advani told a crowd of around 7,000 in Ayodhya he was certain the temple would be built without any rancour. "I have seen such changes in Indian society I am convinced a Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya without any bitterness or discord and this issue will become an instrument of unity between Hindus and Muslims," he said.
Earlier in the day, Advani offered prayers at a makeshift temple on the mosque ruins. Ayodhya residents were unconvinced by Advani's assurances the row would soon be settled. "There's no enthusiasm about Advani's visit. He will come here and go, but the issue will remain where it was," tea stall owner Rajendra Kumar said. -AFP
