'How can someone who has never been associated with the movement and never had darshan of Ram Lalla mediate on the matter of temple construction? We have gone to jail for it, faced house arrest and have been fighting court cases. Sri Sri does not qualify to mediate on the matter.'
A B Vajpayee and L K Advani head a list of 68 leaders of the Sangh Parivaar and bureaucrats held culpable by the Liberhan Commission for leading the country to the "brink of communal discord" over the Ayodhya issue. In a scathing indictment, the Commission said these leaders cannot be given the benefit of the doubt and exonerated of culpability.
The BJP which stormed into Mamata Banerjee's fortress earlier this year by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats faced immense flak when the final NRC in Assam left out Bengali Hindus in large numbers.
Modi said the way each section of the society welcomed the verdict reflects India's ancient traditions of amity and harmony.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of raking up the Ayodhya issue in a bid to gain political mileage, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday claimed that it had never given a clean chit to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on the Babri Masjid demolition issue and blamed the Congress for being 'equally responsible' for it."The SP never gave a clean chit to Kalyan on the Babri Mosque demolition. But the fact is that the Congress is equally responsible," said Amar.
He also said that after the "historic verdict", the country has moved ahead on a new path, with a new resolve.
As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday sent a general advisory to all the states and Union territories asking them to deploy adequate security personnel at all sensitive places, political leaders made fresh calls to people not to indulge in making provocative remarks or spreading rumours.
'I'm sure the central government must have been thinking over the technicalities, that how to pave the way for construction of the temple.'
Invited to deliver a keynote address by former president A P J Abdul Kalam on the occasion of the release of Lal Kishenchand Advani's book My Country My Life at Srifort Auditorium in New Delhi on Wednesday evening, former external affairs minister in the Atal Bihar Vajpayee government Jaswant Singh said that his concept of handling the Ayodhya issue was definitely not the same as that of Advani's.
While there was no official communication about the closed-door meeting, speculation was rife that the Kanchi seer had been sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with some secret formula for an amicable settlement to the centuries-old dispute that had triggered several incidents of communal violence across the country in the past.
Addressing the party workers and people of Bihar through a virtual rally, he attacked the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal saying the growth rate of the state was just 3.9 per cent when the party was in power, but it rose to 11.3 per cent under the NDA.
'Modi will not require the Ayodhya issue because he already has other emotive issues like Pakistan.' 'The BJP does not need the temple for political mobilisation anymore.'
They said it was then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who on February 1, 1986 got the permission for starting prayers at the disputed site and got the locks opened.
In an exclusive interview to PTI, BJP leader and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh outlines the party's poll strategy.
'The common Muslim of this country is not in favour of a review petition because he or she does not want that matters which have been settled are again raised and the community gets caught up in such things'
The Tibetan spiritual leader denied he had any 'proposal or agenda' to solve the issue.
Since the historic judgment of the apex court that paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town, a large number of devotees have been flocking to Ayodhya, several among them making their maiden visit to the city.
While Ayodhya resembled a city under seige earlier during the day, the scene was no different elsewhere in the state with police and central forces keeping an eye over the security situation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitoring it from a hi-tech control room in the state capital.
As the case came up for hearing before the Special Judicial Magistrate V K Singh, the counsels for CBI and the defence informed the court that they would prefer to stay away from judicial work as a mark of solidarity with the local lawyers.
'After each election the losers troop to the court with various objections. The general election will not be different.' 'It could be worse if there is no clear majority and the President has to invite the party with the largest number to form the government,' points out M J Antony.
The CBI told the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad HC that provocative speeches by leaders encouraged kar sevaks to demolish the Babri masjid.
The TDP has expressed its concern over hardline statements emanating from the party after Advani took over as president.
If you had to defuse the ticking time bomb, how would you do it?
The Tibetan spiritual leader had asked Hindus and Muslims to adopt 'a mature, farsighted and open-minded' approach to resolve the temple-mosque dispute.
The Centre also favours a dialogue with the Naxalites, said Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
Security has been put on high alert across the nation as the Supreme Court of India is all set to deliver its verdict in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, Sabarimala case and a host of other legal wrangles.
Rahul Gandhi challenged the BJP to fight on secular terms instead of using the temple as a poll plank.
'Several Muslim organisations and individuals are now talking of resolution of the Ayodhya issue,' he said.
The outfit also refused to comment on the rejection by the Muslim Law Board of Kanchi seer's proposals to resolve the Ayodhya issue.
'All efforts for a negotiated settlement have failed,' the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in an interview to Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi.
He expressed his resolve to take the Ayodhya issue to the people and fight the case to its logical conclusion in the court.
Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani said they took the decision following extensive deliberations involving lawyers and experts.
Part II of the Kanchi Shankaracharya's exclusive interview to rediff.com
He said the wait for the court's verdict on the long-pending issue has been too long.
'For Muslims, India is now a Hindu Rashtra, no matter what kind of Constitution is still in place,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances