AYODHYA: Construction at the disputed site here was stopped at 3:30 p. m half an hour before the deadline announced by the sans and mahants and on the 18th day after it was begun.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Secretary General Ashok Singhal led thousands of kar sevaks from the disputed site to an adjoining undisputed site where they commenced digging operations for the construction of a Sheshav tar mandir (Lakshman temple).

Singhal told the gathering that kar seva had not been stopped but shifted. He said that the new kar seva site and the acquired 2.77 acres of land was part of one complex and whatever was happening there was part of the kar seva for the construction of the Ram temple,

An estimated 50,000 kar sevaks, mostly drawn from neighboring areas, had connected near the shilanyas site when the kar seva was stopped.

The Inspector General of Police (Lucknow range) A.K.Saran said there was no law and order problem and that the entire shifting operation went off smoothly.

Kar sevaks who were camping near the shilanyas site were asked jointly by VHP and religious leaders to stop work on the disputed site.

Earlier in the day, the kar seva program was undertaken more vigorously in a bid to complete an unfinished portion around the “Ram Chabutra” before the deadline.

The religious leaders had announced on Saturday that they would stop karsevaat the shilanyas site following an assurance by Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao that serious efforts would be made to resolve the issue in three months” time,

In New Delhi, BJP President Murli Manohar Joshi expressed his “gratitude” to the sants for stopping kar seva at the shilanyas site at Ayodhya.

Reacting to the shifting of the kar seva, DrJoshi said this clearly showed “how deep” their [the saints I concern was for national unity and smooth completion of the Ram temple there.

The BJP President hoped that this issue would be decided once for all soon since it was “the most important issue concerning the unity and stability of the country,”

I am deeply grateful to the sants who come to Delhi breaking their prayers and discourses to discuss the Ayodhya issue with Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao,” Joshi said, and added that the Uttar Pradesh Government had succeeded in persuading the sants in this matter,

The Congress too welcomed the stopping of construction at the disputed site saying that “the supremacy of the Constitution has prevailed and the rule of law upheld.”

The party spokesman, V.N. Gadgil, in a statement said it was gratifying that no damage had been done to the temple of justice.

We expect that this development will defuse the situation and create a proper atmosphere for the peaceful settlement of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue,” he said.

Gadgil said the events of the last fortnight have vindicated the new style of politics introduced by Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao, the politics of consensus, both within and outside the Congress.

The CPM, however, described the stoppage of “kar seva” at the disputed site in Ayodhya as a “tactical move” and charged that it aimed at accomplishing the encroachment in defiance of the court directive,

The CPM also expressed doubt whether the talks initiated by the Prime Minister would result in a permanent solution.

The CPM Politburo member, Prakash Karat, said the VHP had already made it clear that it would not alter the original plan for temple construction, which will encroach on the Babri Masjid structure and neither are they prepared to accept a court verdict unless it goes in their favor.

Meanwhile, six Janata Dal members of Parliament accused Prime Minister Narasimha Rao of actively conniving” with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in completing the first phase of Ram temple’s construction at “the disputed place.”

In a joint statement they alleged that the Prime Minister had “cheated” the nation by allowing the BJP-VHP combine to undertake the construction at the “shilapyas” site at Ayodhya.

They demanded that the Prime Minister should place before the nation what exactly transpired between him and VHP’s ‘sadhu sant’ representatives,

Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 7, 1992