NEW DELHI: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said it would give sufficient time to the Uttar Pradesh government to resolve the Ayodhya dispute but stuck to its demand for construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.

Stating that it was too early to fix a time limit to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the VHP working president, Mr Vishnu Han Dalmia said it was for the BJP led state government to sort out the legal obstacles to acquire the disputed land.

Asked whether the VHP would join any government-sponsored negotiations between the representatives of the two communities on the issue, Mr Dalmia said “the government should first do its groundwork on the basis of historical documents and other evidence submitted by both parties and then if it feels that our help is required we would be available.”

He said experts of the BJP and the VHP were examining the legal aspects of aiding the UP government in acquiring the disputed land.

Welcoming the recent pronouncements by BJP leaders in UP on the temple issue and their visit to Ayodhya, the VHP joint general secretary, Mr Gira) Kishore, told PTI that the coming to power of the BJP in UP was a referendum on the Ram issue and it proves that the party is sincere about fulfilling the promises made in its election manifesto.

The newly-elected UP chief minister, Mr Kalyan Singh, and other state BJP leaders had recently said that their government would remove the obstacles in the way of acquiring the disputed land, scrap the enquiry commission going into the October-November incidents in Ayodhya last year and institute a new commission with an enlarged scope.

Mr Kishore said the new enquiry commission would help in finding out the causes behind the Ayodhya incidents, taking into account what he called speeches by the former chief minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, and his cabinet colleagues.

On the Congress (I) s election promise to introduce a bill in parliament maintaining the status quo of all religious shrines as they were in August 15, 1947, the VHP leader said “we will oppose it with all our might”.

Asked what would be the status of the VHP members of parliament who had been elected under the BJP symbol, Mr Kishore said they would “act as BJP members in the house as they resigned from VHP before contesting the poll. They will of course be in the forefront, on the Ayodhya issue”.

Among the VHP leaders elected to parliament are Mr S.C.Dixit (VHP vice president and former inspector general of police in UP) Mr Vinay Katiyar (chief of the Bajrang Dal), Mahant Avardyanath (former MP and leader of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Mukti Yagya Samiti), Swami Chin Mayan and (another Samiti leader) and Ms Uma Bharati.

He said a meeting of all BJP MPs and MLAs and religious leaders would be held in Ayodhya sometime in July to work out the future course of action in regard to the dispute.

“In case of the legitimate demand of the Hindus for handing over of three shrines to them is not met, a vigorous mass agitation will be launched through the country”, a VHP spokesman said.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 5, 1991