Law for Ram temple is new Sangh mantra

RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said that an early solution to the matter necessitated exercising the third option while the VHP, striking a belligerent tone, declared: ‘‘Whatever may be the judicial verdict, whatever may be the result of the excavation, the Ramjanmabhoomi temple will be built (at the disputed site) because it’s a matter of faith.’’

In Washington, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said that an end to the imbroglio could emerge through negotiations. ‘‘If it happens, it would be a cause for happiness (do sampradayon ke beech mein baat-cheet se hal nikalne ki sambhavna hai. Agar aisa hota hai to khushi ki baat hogi).’’

Advani said many leaders from both communities had been meeting. ‘‘This may yield a solution. A court verdict would never be as acceptable to the parties involved as a negotiated settlement.’’

VHP national secretary Surendra Jain told reporters in New Delhi that if the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), conducting excavations at the disputed site, were to unearth ‘‘even a single brick’’, it would be proof of a structure pre-dating the Babri Masjid.

But when he was asked if the VHP would give up its demand if it were proved that a pre-existing structure was not a temple, Jain changed tack and asserted that the organisation was not looking for proof because the demand for a Ram temple at the site was ‘‘a matter of faith.’’

On the efforts of the Shankaracharya to hammer out a negotiated settlement, the VHP leader said they did not wish to comment on it nor drag the Shankaracharya into more controversies. Alleging that Muslims had repeatedly backed out from talks, he said: ‘‘We do not have much faith in the outcome of negotiations.’’

There’s already talk of a proposal doing the rounds: give land to Muslims outside the panchkosi parikrama of the sanctum sanctorum in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque.

It was in this backdrop that BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu declared at a rally at Rampur on May 28 that a mosque would be built alongside the temple (mandir ke bagal mein masjid banega) at Ayodhya.

The rally had been organised by BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a close confidante of Naidu who could not resist the temptation of making this dramatic announcement to boost Naqvi’s standing among the Muslims of Rampur. A former MP from Rampur, Naqvi is keen on nursing the Muslim-dominated constituency.

The announcement, however, backfired and landed Naidu in trouble. The RSS, VHP and even his own party were against the suggestion. ‘‘We will not tolerate the construction of a mosque within the panchkosi parikrama,’’ declared VHP vice-president Giriraj Kishore and general secretary Pravin Togadia.

Naidu tried to wriggle out of the controversy by contending that he implied the construction of a mosque in a nearby Muslim-dominated locality and not alongside the temple.