LUCKNOW, Jan 14: Indian Muslim leaders said on Monday they had rejected a proposal by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for talks to settle the row over the building of a temple on the site of the Babri mosque.

The issue has assumed crucial importance with Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) facing a tight race in state assembly elections next month in Uttar Pradesh, where the disputed religious site is located.

Hardline Hindu groups linked to the BJP have been campaigning for a temple to be built in the ancient town of Ayodhya, where the babri mosque was demolished by Hindu fanatics in 1992.

More than 3,000 people died in religious riots across India after the historic mosque was razed. A makeshift temple now stands on the debris.

“We made it clear to the official from the prime minister’s office that no talks could be held with an opposite party that showed no semblance of a conciliatory approach,” the convener of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, Zafaryab Jilani, said.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which believes the site is the birthplace of the Hindu god-king Ram, has said it plans to push ahead with plans to construct a temple on the disputed site after March 12.

The Babri Masjid Action Committee wants the mosque to be rebuilt and some Muslim groups have said they would use force to stop the construction of the temple.

Courts looking into a slew of petitions on the dispute have banned any construction in and around the site in Ayodhya.

“How can you think of entering a dialogue with a party that went about proclaiming publicly that irrespective of what the judiciary decides, it would not budge from its resolve of building the temple on the disputed land?” said Jilani.

“We’ve always said we would abide by the decision of the court.”

Two weeks ago, Vajpayee said talks were “progressing in the right direction” and he was hopeful of “an amicable solution” well before the March 12 deadline set by Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

But he refused to identify the parties involved in the talks.

In 2000, he sparked controversy when he called desire for a temple in Ayodhya “an expression of national feeling”, but later said his remarks did not amount to support for building one.

Opposition groups accuse the BJP of bias against Muslims. The BJP denies the charge but says it is against appeasing any group.—Reuters