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VHP demands return of agreement letter

Hardening its stand on the Ram Temple issue, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday asked Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati to get back its letter of assurance given to the government before the shiladaan programme on March 15.

"Since the letter of agreement was given through the Shankaracharya, we requested him to get it from the government and return to us", VHP leader Ashok Singhal said after a 30-minute meeting with the Kanchi seer.

"Now we are not ready to accept the government suggestion of maintaining status quo," Singhal said.

Before the March 15 shiladaan, the VHP had undertaken to abide by the court verdict on the programme in return for government passing an order for handing over the undisputed land to Ram Janambhoomi Trust by June two, Singhal said.

Since both did not happen, VHP demands the return of the agreement letter, he said.

On the statements made at the VHP meeting in Hardwar last week that the organisation would not abide by the court verdict on the temple issue, Singhal said it was an 'opinion' expressed by those who participated.

VHP has been saying that the Ram Temple issue was outside the purview of the court, he added.

However, the Shankaracharya, who is in New Delhi on a three-day visit, described Singhal's demand on the letter as an 'expression of anger'.

The pontiff said talks were 'progressing' through various agencies to find a solution to the vexed issue. He, however, did not elaborate.

"The government and the political fraternity have no role to play at this time. Religious leaders will discuss the issue and a solution will come," Shankaracharya said.

On Monday Shankaracharya said the VHP had given assurance to honour the court order only on the issue of bhoomipujan in Ayodhya on March 15.

VHP has never said they would not abide by the court verdict as they have only said that a solution to the issue could not be found through a court order, the Kanchi seer had said.

The pontiff said it was but natural that a party against whom the court verdict went would not be satisfied and the dispute would continue.

A solution, therefore, could be found only through a dialogue between the parties to the dispute, he said, adding there was some communication gap between the parties and efforts were on to bring them together.

"This has to be done with the mutual consent of the two parties," the Shankaracharya said.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister George Fernandes also called on the Kanchi seer.

The Ayodhya Issue: Complete Coverage

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