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Ram temple and elections

Editorial
The Free Press Journal
Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Very little is known about the formula that the Kanchi
Shankaracharya is said to have sent to the leaders of the
All India Muslim Personal Law Board for resolving the
Ayodhya dispute. Both sides are keeping it under wraps.
However should it help in untangling the Ayodhya mess,
the seer and the leaders of the minority community would
have earned the nation's gratitude. Secularists and
other critics of the NDA Government who have faulted the
Prime Minister for having roped in the Kanchi seer for
helping it find a sol ution to the protracted dispute
neither appreciate its intractability nor its potential
to cause harm all around.

The point that the dispute is best left to the courts is
actually pointless, because the courts, lower or higher,
have been seized of it for more than half a century.
There has been no movement in the various court cases
relating to the mandir-masjid row. Admittedly, in recent
months the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court
treated the matter with due dispatch when it ordered the
Archaeological Survey of India to dig the disputed site
for proof, if any, of the existence of a mandir there.
The controversial order has aroused hopes in certain
quarters that it would yield the required evidence so
that a grand temple could be erected at the site which
millions of Hindus believe was the exact birthplace of
Lord Rama.

Despite several extensions of time given to the ASI, the
digging in Ayodhya has yielded little of tangible use.
Therefore, the best case scenario to put back the searing
dispute is a negotiated settlement. That is where the
role of the unofficial interlocutors like the Kanchi seer
assumes significance. To question his motives when all
that he is seeking to do is to help find a solution to
the vexed problem is to reveal one's jaundiced world-view
where there is no place for men of religion and goodwill.

Having said that, it must be acknowledged that for the
first time since the Ayodhya imbroglio burst on the
national consciousness more than a decade ago have the
leaders of the minority community responded in a spirit
of accommodation and understanding. Here again while some
professional trouble-makers and hot-heads might rail
against the AIMPLB and question its competence to speak
on behalf of the entire community, the truth is that the
AIMPLB leaders have approached the latest attempt by the
Kanchi seer with the seriousness that it deserves. That
the seer has the full support of the Government in his
effort to untie the Gordian knot has further lent a sheen
to his spiritual excellence.

As for the formula proper, from the speculation in the
media it is clear that a temple, after all, will be
erected on the disputed site claimed by Hindus to be the
birthplace of Lord Rama. Muslims will give up their claim
on the disputed site in return of an alternative plot of
land a few kilometers away from the temple site for the
construction of a mosque. Also, Hindus will abandon their
claim on disputed sites in Kashi (Varanasi) and Mathura
where historic temples stand cheek by jowl with latter-
day mosques. Some other demands of the Muslim community,
including the right to perform `namaz'in ASI-protected
mosques, which the Government is unlikely to concede.

Curiously, the VHP has had no role in the on-going
parleys. And its peevishness comes out in the intemperate
remarks of Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia who together
have sought to throw a spanner in the seer's way by
rejecting outright any idea of accommodation with the
minority community. The Vajpayee Government isn't overly
concerned about the shrill noises by the VHP leadership
since it is certain that it will fall in line once the
disputed land is handed over to it for the construction
of the Ram temple. Also, it is inconceivable that the VHP
will work against the interests of the BJP given their
common roots in the Sangh parivar. However efforts to
mollify the VHP leadership were already on and it is
hoped that they would not become an obstacle in the
search for a negotiated settlement.

It is significant that the main opposition party has
expressed its preference for a court-directed solution
but it too has not questioned the efforts of the
Government to bring about a negotiated settlement.
Meanwhile, speculation that a peaceful settlement of the
protracted mandir-masjid row will inspire the Government
to go in for an early election does not seem to be wholly
devoid of truth. For, the proposed settlement would
certainly boost the Government's stock and, coupled with
the Vajpayee initiative to talk peace with Pakistan, it
could well become the platform from which the NDA would
successfully launch its re-election campaign.

End of forwarded message

Jai Maharaj
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Om Shanti

Panchaang for 28 Jyeshtth 5104, Friday, June 27, 2003:

Shubhanu Nama Samvatsare Dakshinaya Nartana Ritau
Mithun Mase Krishna Pakshe Shukr Vasara Yuktayam
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