Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: June 14, 2001
Home Minister L. K. Advani on Wednesday
said the V.P. Singh government's commitment to the policy of appeasement
resulted in the withdrawal of a 1990 ordinance to acquire land around the
disputed structure at Ayodhya, which was to be handed over for kar seva.
The government issued the ordinance
on October 19, 1990 to acquire 67 acres of land around the disputed structure,
but within 24 hours, it staged a somersault and withdrew the ordinance,
Mr Advani said while deposing before the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission.
Terming this kind of an action as
unprecedented in independent India, the Home Minister said "this conduct
only confirmed my misgivings about the government that this is a government
which is committed to the policy of appeasement, a policy which is not
in the interest of anyone and not in the interest of even the minorities."
He said the government lost an option
to solve the problem once for all by withdrawing the notification, which
apart from acquiring the land also proposed to make a single point reference
to the supreme court to determine whether a temple existed at the site.
Mr Advani said the ordinance was
withdrawn due to opposition of the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC)
supporters and the threat of the then UP Chief Minister not implementing
it. He said the BJP had welcomed the notification.
However, asked whether the notification
was also opposed by the VHP, Mr Advani said though the reason behind their
opposition would be best answered by the VHP itself. "The ordinance did
not satisfy the VHP, though it seemed satisfactory to the BJP. But what
made the government withdraw the ordinance within 24 hours is presumably
the opposition voiced by the supporters of BMAC and, if I am not mistaken,
the Shahi Imam of Delhi," the home minister said. (PTI)
