Babri petitioner slams door on Katiyar

Babri petitioner slams door on Katiyar
AMIT SHARMA

LUCKNOW, JANUARY 12: Withdraw the case and the idol of Ram from the disputed site first to initiate any dialogue on the issue,'' Hashim Ansari, a litigant in the Babri Masjid case, today said categorically on the eve of his ``talks'' with BJP MP Vinay Katiyar scheduled to be held here tomorrow.

This has put Katiyar in an embarrassing situation as he has been claiming all along that the ``talks'' would be held as per schedule to find a way out of the impasse. He told newsmen during the executive committee meeting of the party in Jhansi that there was no possibility of the talks being postponed and hoped that a solution would emerge out of the same.

``There is no meaning of talks when the BJP has asked for Muslim supportin construction of the Ram temple. I had agreed to talk with Katiyar in hisindividual capacity but later I realised that BJP leaders were hiding behind him to serve their vested political interests. I cannot ditch my community on the issue,'' Hashim told The Indian Express on phone from Ayodhya.

He alleged that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had hatched aconspiracy with Katiyar to break the ice on the issue by ``fooling'' the minority community. ``We want to maintain secular values while the BJP is trying to built a Hindu Rashtra. The secular fabric can be maintained only when the mosque is rebuilt on the site and there was no question of allowing the BJP to go for temple construction,'' he asserted.

Muslim politics has been virtually on the boil since Katiyar came out with his ``plan'' to hold talks with Ansari, a litigant pursuing the case since 1961, and hinted that he (Ansari) could withdraw the case.

Reacting strongly to the ``talk formula'', members of the Babri Masjid Action Committee had convened an emergency meeting in Lucknow a few days backand claimed that Hashim was not authorised to take a decision on a sensitiveissue like the Babri mosque for the community and warned of dire consequences if any attempt was made to initiate temple construction even on the 67 acre land acquired by the Centre in 1993. ``We will negate any effort for temple construction physically because we are not ready to be deceived again on the issue,'' said Jilani.

Hashim was also under pressure from different Muslim organisations and individuals and finally succumbed on the eve of the talks. ``We (the Muslims) want democracy and it cannot survive on fascism which the BJP is trying to bring through imposing the temple on us. We will not accept it at any cost and I have clearly told Vinay Katiyar that unless two of my demands are met I will not enter into any dialogue,'' said Hashim.

Meanwhile, state BJP chief Kalraj Mishra has appealed to the Muslims to cooperate with the Hindus in constructing the temple. ``The temple exists there and the only job left is to give it a magnificent shape'' said Mishra during the ongoing state executive committee meeting in Jhansi.