Even if court rules for mosque, temple stays, says BJP chief

“We are trying for an out-of-court settlement for building the Babri Mosque at an alternative site since it would be difficult to remove the Ram temple from there despite an adverse court verdict,” Laxman told The Indian Express today.

Taking a cue from the Prime Minister’s speech in the Lok Sabha, Laxman claimed: “The fact that nobody spoke about building the Babri Mosque, not even Muslim League MPs, was a clear endorsement of the BJP’s view on the temple.”

The BJP chief justified the timing of the PM’s statement that the temple should be built at the site of the demolished mosque and that an alternative site could be found for the Babri Masjid. “Do you think he made the suggestion out of the blue? The PM made the statement only after talking to some Muslim leaders taking the overall atmosphere into consideration,” Laxman claimed.

Bangaru also indicated that the Centre was ready to play “facilitator” in talks between both Hindu and Muslim leaders. Citing the tardy progress of such talks held during the tenure of V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar in Prime Minister’s office, he said finding a solution through negotiations won’t be easy.

However, the change in ground reality — that the disputed structure was not there in Ayodhya now — was likely to make things easier this time, he said. The PM’s talks with Muslim leaders, however, were in a “preliminary” stage, he claimed.

Asked how the PM’s statements had affected his Nagpur message calling upon Muslims to join the BJP, Bangaru said the fact that there was no trouble despite provocative statements made by Opposition leaders demonstrated that the Muslims had faith in Vajpayee’s leadership.

“There is no setback to BJP’s campaign to rope in Muslims. However, the party would review the impact of the Nagpur message after its two-month-long campaign ends on December 31,” he said.

The BJP chief, however, cautioned the VHP in its attempts to start kar seva in Ayodhya sometime next year. “They will have to take the people’s general mood into consideration. As BJP president, I will appeal to them not to go ahead,” he said.

Asked about the VHP leaders’ claim to announce the date of temple construction at their Dharma Sansad during Allahabad Kumbha mela next month, Bangaru said not much importance should be attached to statements made by some individuals. “We want to build the temple through negotiations and conciliation,” he added.