Speaking at a Hindu conclave organized by the Hindu Vishwa Parishad, Bhagwat said: "The disputed land belongs to the Hindus and the temple problem cannot be solved by dividing the land."
It indicated a shift from RSS' earlier stand. Soon after the Allahabad High Court's verdict on the Ayodhya case, the RSS had said that the entire disputed land where the Babri Masjid stood must be given either to the Muslims or the Hindus.
Criticizing Muslim rulers, Bhagwat said that the division of land had been done by Muslim invaders and rulers to stay in power. The RSS chief, however, said Mughal Emperor Babar didn't raze all temples, but was only responsible for the demolition of the temple in Ayodhya. Babar, he said, did this because he wanted to decimate the Hindu community.
Referring to the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan, Bhagwat said Kashmir stands divided between the two countries but that did not solve the issue. Similarly, the division of Ayodhya land is not going to resolve the issue.
Though the Hindu conclave was supposed to discuss the temple issue, Bhagwat digressed from the agenda and spoke on the Kashmir issue.
Bhagwat said: "Let's be united and let us ensure undivided India which includes undivided Kashmir. We have lost what was legally and rightly ours." In a reference to the violent protests in Kashmir, Bhagwat said: "There is no need for us to bow to Pakistan-sponsored stone pelting in Kashmir, as all that stone pelting is nothing but bullying tactics. There is absolutely no dispute about Kashmir. The need is to exert extreme pressure on the federal government to ensure that the government does not succumb to external pressure on the Kashmir matter," Bhagwat said.
Reacting to the recent remarks of Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh that Hindu organizations may have been behind the killing of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, Bhagwat said, "The RSS has always been made a target by some people who do so to garner votes."
