Author: PTI
Publication: The Hindu
Date: July 10, 2006
URL: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200607101864.htm
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today told a
delegation that plans to protect the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya with
a bulletproof shield cannot be shelved, Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker Shoaib
Iqbal, leader of the delegation, said.
Iqbal said after the meeting that Singh cited
last year's terrorist attack on the sacred compound as the primary reason
behind the new security plan for the site.
"The Prime Minister said he won't take
any risk. He said another attack could lead to a very serious situation and
therefore it was necessary to build a bulletproof shield around the site,"
the JD(S) leader said.
Disappointed with the Prime Minister's refusal
to drop the plans for protection of the makeshift temple in Ayodhya, Iqbal
vowed to create political pressure on the government to force it to withdraw
its decision.
"He rejected our request one hundred
per cent and now we will mobilise support of the UPA allies as well as the
Left to make the government drop this plan which we feel will give legitimacy
to the existing temple there. We would like the allies to pull down the government
if it does not accept our demand," Iqbal said.
In its reaction, the BJP described as "highly
inappropriate" the demand for withdrawal of plans to provide a bullet-proof
cover to the makeshift temple.
"There is a Ram temple which has faced
an attack before. The government must ensure its safety. We believe it's the
government's responsibility to ensure all places of worship are safe. Any
opposition to such plans is highly inappropriate," BJP spokesman Prakash
Javadekar said.
