NEW DELHI, 14 March — Political parties aligned along traditional lines yesterday over the government’s court plea to allow Hindu ceremonies near the site of a demolished mosque in Ayodhya.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Trinamool Congress, key allies of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), termed it “highly objectionable” that the government had not consulted them before asking the court to allow the Hindu prayers in the northern town.
“We were not consulted before the government decision to request for a puja (rituals). It is objectionable,” said TDP leader K. Yerrannaidu.
“The Supreme Court’s verdict is a slap in the government’s face,” said C. Ramachandraiah, another leader of the TDP. “We totally oppose the stand taken by the government in the court,” he added.
“It is not a BJP government but an NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government. They should not forget it,” warned Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee. The NDA partners in a joint resolution passed yesterday said, “The coalition is confident that the government will take all necessary steps to see that today’s court order is implemented in letter and spirit.”
Members of the BJP, which has fraternal ties with the Hindu right-wing groups that have been pushing for the ceremony near the razed Babri Mosque over which they propose to build a temple, said they felt betrayed by the court verdict.
“The Supreme Court has ignored the sentiments of the majority. It has dealt a blow to secularism by denying the right to worship,” said B.P. Singhal, BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha. Sanjay Nirupam, an MP of the Hindu extremist party Shiv Sena, referred to the judgment as a blow to Hinduism. “The court must reconsider its verdict. Hindus are hurt. Puja should be allowed,” he said.
But the opposition, Muslim leaders and common Indian were elated with the judgment. “The Supreme Court has saved the country from communal forces. They wanted to stoke the flames of communalism in the nation,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi Party.
He added that even after promising that status quo would be maintained, Vajpayee went ahead with the request to the court to allow the rituals by 50 to 60 Hindu religious leaders. “He misled the country. Did the NDA allies agree to it?” The main opposition Congress party also condemned Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee’s request to the court to allow the Hindu ceremony.
“What was the prime minister’s assurance in the presidential speech and the all-party meeting? The request itself is a violation of the status quo,” said Congress chief whip Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi.
The secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, A.R. Qureshi, said: “We regard this as the victory of the law and not as the victory of the Muslims of the country.”
“Let the majesty of law be upheld,” Muslim lawyer Yusuf Hatim Muchchala told reporters. Terming the verdict as “the first victory of justice,” the shahi imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmad Bukhari expressed hope that the other pending cases on the Ayodhya issue would also be resolved through the court soon.
However, Bukhari regretted the stand taken by the government in the court and said: “It is now clear that the central government is not ruled by the NDA but by the VHP.”
Muslim League member of Parliament G.M. Banatwala said: “The secular credentials of the government are at stake. The government betrayed the nation.”
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader Somnath Chatterjee told reporters that the opposition welcomed the judgment because “the court did not allow the fundamentalists to succeed.”
He asked “secular” members of the NDA to introspect and review their ties with the BJP. A large number of commoners also welcomed the court ruling and said the two communities should compromise and let people get on with life.
