The Hindu : Let locals resolve Ayodhya issue: Magsaysay winner

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 16, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Let locals resolve Ayodhya issue: Magsaysay winner

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI NOV. 15. The opinion of the local people should be at the centre of any solution to the Ayodhya problem, says Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay award winner.

The Centre's role should be limited to facilitating a dialogue with the local community, to the exclusion of fundamentalist organisations, for a viable solution.

At a meet-the-press, organised by the Chennai Press Club here, he said the locals were disenchanted with political organisations repeatedly using the Ayodhya issue to polarise vote banks communally.

With the local economy badly hit by a decline in tourism and frequent curfews, the community was on keen coming up with its own solution.

To the people, it did not necessarily revolve round building a temple or a mosque at the controversial site.

To bring about a consensus among the locals, a new forum, `Voice of Ayodhya', had been formed. Grass roots activists working for communal harmony including Mr. Pandey, Medha Patkar and Asghar Ali Engineer, were its advisors.

Ayodhya had a long history of communal harmony, said Mr. Pandey. The Hanuman Garhi, the most visited temple, was built on land provided by the Muslim ruler of Avadh. Even now, most of the craftsmen, who met the temple needs of materials and other goods, were Muslims.

Uttar Pradesh had seen several changes since the pulling down of the Babri Masjid in 1992.

Even people, who had been involved in the demolition, regretted the decision. Those committed to the Sangh Parivar ideology these days were mostly in their teens.

On October 17, 2003, when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad distributed trishuls at Ayodhya, the forum supplied copies of the Bhagavad Gita at Sultanpur. Part of the funding for the Gita copies came from Muslims and many even received the copies.

Several of the Muslims had shown a willingness to be involved in construction of a Ram temple but did not want to be treated as `second class citizens or be intimidated'.

Groups working for communal harmony continued to experience difficulty in holding meetings, with the district administration not giving them permission while at the same time allowing VHP volunteers, in the name of `Ram Bakths' and under instructions of the Centre, to conduct their activities, said Mr. Pandey.

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