Resolve Ayodhya issue outside court: Pejawar seer

Resolve Ayodhya issue outside court: Pejawar seer

Staff Correspondent
‘It has been considered Ramajanmabhoomi for thousands of years'

Centre urged to enact a law for building

the temple

Udupi: Visvesha Tirtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math said on Friday that the Centre should take the initiative to resolve the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya through negotiations.

The swamiji, who is associated with the Ramjanmabhoomi movement here, told presspersons that he would soon write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi on this issue. The Centre, under the then Prime Ministers V.P. Singh and Chandrashekhar, had taken the initiative in holding negotiations.

“It will be better if the matter is resolved through negotiations and Muslims give up the Ramjanmabhoomi area to Hindu organisations. The Muslims could build their mosque outside the disputed area. Let the mosque be neither too near the area nor too far from the area. This is a golden opportunity to promote communal harmony.”

The swamiji said the Allahabad High Court's verdict that the disputed area be divided into three parts was not acceptable. The land was Ramjanmabhoomi and its division was not acceptable. “The Centre should conduct negotiations and if the negotiations were successful, it should enact a law for the construction of the temple. Even if the negotiations failed, the Centre should still enact a law for the construction of the temple”, he said.

The swamiji said taking the matter to the Supreme Court would not serve any purpose. “However, since the Muslim organisations had decided to take the matter to the Supreme Court, the Hindu organisations would also challenge the matter there,” he said.

He said the Prathinidhi Mandal of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) would soon meet the Prime Minister on this issue. However, the swamiji parried questions on how the Muslim organisations could come for negotiations when he was leaving almost nothing for them to negotiate upon.

To a question, the swamiji said any judgment against the Hindu organisations on the Ramjanmabhoomi issue was not acceptable. “This is a matter of belief. The area has been regarded as Ramjanmabhoomi for thousands of years. This belief cannot be disregarded,” he said.

Defections

The swamiji said it was time the anti-defection law was amended to prevent all kinds of defections. The present situation in the State only showed that politicians were susceptible to corruption, greed, and money. “All the parties should come together and put an end to the politics of defection,” he said.

The swamiji said he would undertake a “padayatra” in the State against untouchability and to promote unity among Hindus.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/23/stories/2010102363300600.htm