LUCKNOW, Jan 3: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Thursday urged all parties to a bitter dispute over a razed mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya to shelve their differences as the country unites to fight terrorism.

The 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by Hindu zealots in 1992, triggering some of post-independence India’s worst Hindu-Muslim riots in which more than 2,000 people were killed.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad which has close links to BJP , has been spearheading a campaign to construct a temple to the Hindu god Ram on the mosque ruins.

“In the prevailing circumstances, I am requesting all parties to keep aside such controversial issues and first resolve terrorism,” Vajpayee told reporters in Lucknow.

Several senior ministers in Vajpayee’s cabinet have been accused by a federal investigation of inciting Hindu fundamentalists to destroy the mosque.—AFP