Press Statement
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
On NDA Statement
The non-BJP partners in the NDA have resorted to a cover-up on the disruptive statements made by the Prime Minister regarding the Ayodhya dispute and the demolition of the Babri Masjid. It is strange that the NDA statement quotes Mr. Vajpayee’s remarks in December 1992 about the demolition and keeps quiet about his lauding of the Ram temple movement as an expression of national sentiment. More damagingly, the Prime Minister has declared that the temple should be built where the Babri Masjid stood in gross violation of his constitutional responsibility, which is to maintain the status quo at the site in Ayodhya.
The NDA statement also talks about implementing "the decision of the Supreme Court which is presently seized of this matter", when it is well-known that the Supreme Court refused to consider a Presidential reference on the matter in 1994 and had directed that the title dispute be decided by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. This shows the casual and dishonest manner in which the NDA seeks to deal with the issue to divert attention from the serious implications of the Prime Minister’s statement.
The NDA partners have been further exposed by their defence of the continuation of the three ministers in the Cabinet who have been charge-sheeted in the demolition case. To say that the exercise of power by the Union Home Minister has no bearing on the Ayodhya matter will be treated with incredulity.
The Polit Bureau reiterates the demand that the three ministers immediately quit their posts and the Prime Minister disown his partisan remarks on the Ayodhya issue which have vitiated the atmosphere.