No Appeasement of the VHP

Date: 
Monday, January 28, 2002

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

No Appeasement of the VHP

The Vajpayee government has taken another step to appease the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is going ahead with its illegal moves for construction of the temple a the disputed site at Ayodhya. The Prime Minister, after a three-hour meeting with the leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has referred their demand for handing over a major portion of the acquired land at Ayodhya to the law ministry for examination. This is a way of keeping alive the patently disruptive demand of the VHP. The only response the government should have given is that this is a matter for the courts to decide.

The statement by George Fernandes after the meeting that the VHP has agreed that the dispute can be solved only through a court decision or a negotiated settlement is also false. At no time have the VHP leaders accepted this stand. At the VHP rally held soon after the meeting, the self-styled representatives of the Hindu community have announced their intention to go ahead with the temple construction after March 12, even if the government does not clear the legal hurdles. The rally was also marked by vicious communal propaganda.

The BJP-led government is conniving with the disruptive game of the VHP and the RSS which has dangerous implications for the country's unity and communal harmony.