Author: Sharad Gupta
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: January 7, 2001
Introduction: Muslim groups ridicule
Mohammad Hashim's role
The much-hyped ``Ayodhya talks''
between BJP MP Vinay Katiyar and Mohammad Hashim, a litigant in the Babri
case, scheduled for January 13, seem to have lost credibility even before
they could begin.
While the Sangh Parivar vows to
go ahead with temple construction irrespective of the talks or whatever
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee says, senior Muslim leaders have refused
to join in.
Legal experts, too, have their doubts.
``Talks can't be held under intimidation of the announcement of temple
construction dates by VHP. Hashim, Katiyar do not mean anything more than
an agreement reached between two lieutenants of India and Pakistan on Kashmir,''
says constitutional lawyer Rajeev Dhawan who was counsel for the All India
Babri Masjid Action Committee.
``A negotiated solution can be found
only between a set of persons accepted by both sides as their representatives,
including those involved in earlier negotiations as well,'' Dhawan says
adding that the Hashim-Katiyar talks were just an exercise in political
kite-flying.
Muslim leaders feel that Hashim
had been bought over by the Sangh Parivar. ``We won't settle for anything
less than reconstruction of Babri Masque, as promised by the then Prime
Minister, P V Narasimha Rao, soon after demolition of the Babri Mosque,''
says Javed Habib, president of Babri Masjid Action Committee (international).
Habib says the promise made by one
Prime Minister (Rao) can't be forgotten by another (Vajpayee) and Muslims
wanted only a Babri Masjid at the disputed site. ``The makeshift temple
there is only a temporary structure and may be removed easily,'' he said.
The founder president of Bajrang
Dal, Katiyar's ``peace talks'' received a major setback when the present
incument, Surendra Jain, vowed to go ahead with temple construction from
the date announced by saints at dharma sansad in Allahabad on January 21.
``We will abide by the saints' directives irrspective of outcome of Katiyar-Hashim
talks'', Jain told The Indian Express today.
Even the BJP has distanced itself
from Katiyar's talks. ``He must have taken the initiative in his individual
capacity and not on behalf of the party'', said party vice president Jana
Krishnamurthy.
The party's lone Muslim secretary,
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, too feels the need for involvement of more persons
in negotiations since ``a national problem can't be solved by only local
leaders''.
Convenor of Babri Masjid Action
Commitee Zafaryab Jilani ruled out talks with Sangh Parivar members, including
the BJP, to settle the Babri Masjid dispute saying this was a decision
taken by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (MPLB), BMAC and the Babri
Masjid Movement Coordination Committee (BMCC). ``We decided that the issue
could be solved only through adjudication and not by negotiation,'' he
said.
Hashim had no support base in the
Muslim community and he was being used by the VHP to earn political mileage
since he was a very good friend of Katiyar's, he said.
The BMCC too refused to back Hashim
saying only MPLB was the competent body to negotiate the Ayodhya issue.
``Babri Masjid is a national question and cannot be treated as a local
issue to be sorted out by talks with the some non-entities,'' BMCC convenor
Syed Shahabuddin said warning the VHP to desist from ``dishonest, tactical
propoganda.''
