PM says he did not support demolition of Babri mosque

Rejecting the demand for resignation of the three ministers, he said they did not go to Ayodhya to demolish the structure but to prevent it from being pulled down.

The Prime Minister’s remarks in the evening came after his statement in the morning created ripples in political circles with Opposition parties charging him with justifying the demolition and supporting the Sangh Parivar’s agenda of construction of temple at the disputed site.

Facing intense Opposition pressure on the issue on the eighth anniversary of the demolition, Vajpayee strongly defended the three ministers and the temple movement even as BJP president Bangaru Laxman ruled out any apology for the demolition.

Sangh Parivar outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded that the Union Government should transfer the 67 acres of the land acquired in Ayodhya to facilitate construction of the Ram temple.

As Parliament lay paralysed for the third day with the Opposition stepping up the demand for the resignation of Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati chargesheeted in the demolition case, the Prime Minister described the demand as “unjustified and uncalled for”.

“Construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya was an expression of national feeling which is yet to be realised,” Vajpayee told newsmen who asked him whether the ministers would resign.

Strongly defending the ministers he said “they (chargesheeted ministers) were only trying to pacify the crowd and it is wrong to blame them. They didn’t go for demolition.” He drew a distinction between the resignation by Minister of State for Defence Harin Pathak after he was chargesheeted in a murder case and the three ministers.

The Prime Minister’s statement came under immediate attack with Opposition parties saying it has `exposed’ the real face of Vajpayee and BJP while NDA constituent TDP felt he need not have made these remarks.

In Jaipur, Laxman, who began his term as BJP chief with a call for coopting Muslims, said his party would not tender any apology for the demolition. “BJP has not committed any mistake, nor has anyone demanded such an apology from the party”, he told newsmen.

He said the Ayodhya movement was a political movement. “Every party has participated in some political movement or the other. Such participation cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be construed as a sufficient ground for demanding a Minister’s resignation,” Laxman said.

VHP president Ashok Singhal said in Ayodhya that the `dharam sansad’ to be held in Allahabad next month would demand that the Union Government transfer the acquired land for construction of the Ram temple.

He said the temple issue was based on faiths and Parliament and political parties had nothing to do with it.