No question of a new mosque in Ayodhya, says VHP

A day after Supreme Court deferred the ruling of the Allahabad High Court on the title of the disputed shrine in Ayodhya, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday said it would not allow construction of any new mosque in Ayodhya.

The decision was taken at a meeting of 45 religious leaders, who are part of the Sant Uchadhikar Samiti (SUS), in Delhi on Friday. The SUS is responsible for taking any decision for VHP on the Ayodhya issue. It was decided in the meeting that if the verdict of the court was not to the liking of VHP members, they would appeal in the Supreme Court and there would be no violence between Hindus and Muslims.

"We believe that Ayodhya is the birth place of Lord Rama and we will not allow construction of any new mosque in Ayodhya. There is no question of a new mosque in Ayodhya. We want the entire 70-acre land and not just the disputed site for the construction of temple. In case the verdict is against Hindus, we will start a non-violent mass movement and would also appeal in the higher court. There would be no violence from our side," said Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chairman of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.

Even though the Supreme Court wants to give more time to the two communities to solve the dispute through dialogue, VHP members said there could be no discussions with the 'other' party as similar efforts in the past had failed miserably.

"We don't want to start a dialogue with the other party. A dialogue can happen only when both the sides agree. We have waited for 61 years and now we want the verdict. The court has prepared the verdict and the member bench has to read it to the petitioners," said VHP president Ashok Singhal, adding, there was no question that the court would give a ruling against the Hindus.

"It is our firm belief that the court's ruling would not be against Hindus. If it is not in our favour, there will be agitation in the entire country but we want it to be non-violent. We will use all possible democratic and non-violent means to achieve our goals," added Swami Vishvesh Tirtha from Udupi, who is part of the VHP.

Meanwhile, breaking its silence on the Ayodhya issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party said the judicial delay had contributed to the failure of a resolution of the dispute. "The BJP is of the considered opinion that judicial delays over last 61 years have contributed to the failure of the resolution of issue of construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya. We hope that resolution of this issue is not delayed any further," said senior party leader Arun Jaitley, who is also the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.