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NEW DELHI, March 17: Rightwing Hindu nationalists mounted pressure on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Sunday to pave the way for a controversial temple in Ayodhya, with one senior leader threatening to go on an indefinite fast to force the government to lift a ban on temple volunteers, or kar sevaks, reaching the heavily protected city.
Even as much of Gujarat remained tense, a group of rightwing leaders were believed to be planning to urge the hawkish Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani to take over the leadership of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once more, saying that a recent setback to the party’s political fortunes in state elections could only be reversed under his leadership.
In further development related with the current communal upsurge, the head of a Muslim body, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, Maulana Asad Madani, blamed Pakistan’s ISI agency for instigating last month’s violence in Gujarat even as the Hindu priest of the temple committee in Ayodhya, who made a controversial ritual offering of the foundation-stone of the proposed temple to a government official on Friday said the temple construction would begin this year.
Ram Janambhoomi Nyas President Mahant Paramhans Ramchandra Das said on Sunday construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya would “start this year and was expected to be completed within next five years.”
“I am satisfied with the peaceful conduct of the shila daan ceremony on March 15 last and my efforts to build a Ram temple would continue,” Mahant was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying in Ayodhya.
He expressed the hope the government would hand over the acquired land to the Ram Janambhoomi Trust, and claimed that there was no problem in doing so. When asked what would he do if the land was not handed over to the trust, Paramhans said that he would take the land “by force.”
THREAT: Comments by Paramhans came along with a threat in a separate announcement in Ayodhya by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad President Ashok Singhal that he would sit on an indefinite hunger strike from Sunday at Karsewakpuram in Ayodhya in support of the demand for immediate withdrawal of tight security arrangements in the temple town and restoration of rail and road traffic.
VHP Vice-President Achraya Giriraj Kishore, who was also present, said the government should take practical steps to restore normalcy in Ayodhya and other parts of the country.
Vajpayee on Saturday night dismissed the VHP’s claim that acceptance of shila daan in Ayodhya on Friday was recognition, in principle, of the construction of Ram temple by the government in the disputed site, and said the shrine construction could begin only if the Supreme Court verdict favoured it.
“We have made our position very clear on the issue. The issue of temple construction is pending before the court. If the verdict goes in favour of the Hindus, then temple construction will begin. Otherwise not,” he said while replying to a debate in Lok Sabha on his statement on Ayodhya issue in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment.
Paramhans and other Hindu hardliners have been critical of Vajpayee’s approach to the crisis. Alarmed also by the BJP’s poor show in the recent assembly elections in four states, a section of the RSS leadership and some senior party leaders are considering to get back Advani as party president, sources said.
They say the BJP’s Hindutva-driven dynamism was faltering, and that could only be revived by a leader of Advani’s stature. Some reports said with BJP President Jana Krishnamurty being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, there is speculation that he might concentrate on parliamentary matters. It was Advani’s controversial chariot march on Ayodhya that is credited with the BJP’s current political clout.
It is believed that senior BJP leader and Rural Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu took the initiative of moving this proposal, and approached Vajpayee with it, one report said. Vajpayee said he should consult Advani. It is believed that Advani has denied that he was willing to take on the challenge, saying Krishnamurty was a capable leader.
MADANI: Meanwhile, Madani said the Godhra carnage of Feb 27 that triggered large-scale pogroms in Gujarat could have been a handiwork of ISI to foment trouble in the country and had not been carried out by “true” Muslims as it was against Islam.
TENSION: Although tensions remained high in Gujarat, Ahmedabad was largely peaceful, barring stray incidents of violence reported from Behrampura and Dariapur areas here, police said on Sunday. Nearly 100 people have been arrested in connection with Friday’s violence. One report said over two dozen rounds were fired in Behrampura area falling under Danilimda police station late Saturday to scare away the mob indulging in stone pelting and private firing.
In a fresh spark of violence in the state since Saturday, at least five persons were killed, according to the reports.
BAN URGED: In New Delhi, the obscure All India Babri Masjid Reconstruction Committee demanded on Sunday an immediate ban on VHP and Bajrang Dal for “repeatedly violating Supreme Court orders.”
