NEW DELHI: The fundamentalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) rejected the documents submitted by the All India Babri Masjid ‘Action Committee (AIBMAC) to the government in support of its claims on the temple-Mosque controversy in Ayodhya.

They are legal records but not evidence. There is nothing in those (AIBMAC) papers. They are not evidence at all VHP joint secretaries Surya Krishna told PTI Dec 28.

“The three-part documents submitted by the AIBMAC only contain papers related to suits and cases filed in the courts and we have never believed that court proceedings can sort out the issue” Krishan said adding “neither has the VHP ever been party to any judicial process.”

Asked whether they would join the third round of tripartite talks scheduled for January 10 he said the VHP would not only join the talks but also submit rejoinders to all the points raised by the AIBMAC through the documents.

The VHP and the AIBMAC had submitted documentary evidence in support of their claims on the Ram Babri Masjid controversy to the home ministry on Sunday following a decision at the second tripartite talk on the issue on Dec 4.

The documents were exchanged between the VHP and the AIBMAC on Wednesday when the ministry handed over 10sets of documents to the parties.

“The talks were convened for a mutually acceptable solution of the issue and not to discuss court proceedings and legal evidence” the VHP leader said.

The AIBMAC had been talking about the divide-and-rule policy of the British and using it to their advantages. But their documents do not testify these claims” he said.

The VHP would chalk out its future course of action at the “sant sammelan” in Prayag (Allahabad) on Jan 16 & 17 after immersing the urns containing ashes of those killed in Ayodhya on October 30 he said. “The kar seva movement and other programmes announced earlier will go on as scheduled no matter what happens in the January 10 talks” he added.

Article extracted from this publication >> January 4, 1991