A day after the Allahabad high court’s verdict in the Ayodhya land title suits the Congress initiated an exercise to consolidate its support base among the minority community spread across north India. The party said the verdict has not diluted the crime of demolition and the culpability of those involved and that the guilty should receive strict punishment. It also accused the BJP of politicising the issue.

Meanwhile, endorsing the Congress view that the demolition of the mosque was a criminal act, home minister P. Chidambaram deflected UP chief minister Mayawati’s attempt to put the onus of implementing the judgment on the Centre by claiming that the Central government has no role to play in the matter except to maintain status quo.
Making it clear that the high court’s verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute has no bearing on the criminal cases against those involved in the demolition of the Babri mosque, AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh said, “The court’s decision does not dilute culpability in the demolition case. Those involved and found guilty should get strict punishment.”
Congress spin doctors are also concerned about the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections, where Muslims comprise between 20 and 24 per cent of the vote bank in the state.
When asked about the possible political fallout of the court’s verdict, Mr Singh was of the view that his party has always said the issue should not be linked to politics.
Sensing that the saffron bandwagon would now work feverishly to consolidate its Hindu vote bank, the Congress launched an offensive against the BJP. Mr Singh termed a statement of BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad as “offensive”. The Congress leader, however, treaded cautiously and refused comment on SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s statement that he was disappointed with the verdict as it was based upon faith. But, interestingly, Mr Singh opined that the statement of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on the verdict was better than that of BJP veteran L.K. Advani.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari said his party would help build a mosque on the banks of the Saryu river along when a grand Ram temple would be built at the “designated” place.
“Other than the panchkoshi — the land where the temple will be constructed — the BJP will give its support and good wishes if a grand mosque is built on the banks of the Saryu. Temple and mosque both should be constructed, but at different places so that there is no dispute,” Mr Gadkari said in an interview to a news channel.
The BJP president indicated his party should “forget the past and look forward to the future”.
However, the home minister claimed the court verdict in no way justified what the Sangh Parivar did in 1992. “That act was completely unacceptable and it was an act done by people who took the law in their hands. That remains, in my view, a criminal act,” Mr Chidambaram said. Trying to deflect Ms Mayawati’s move to put the ball in the Centre’s court, he said, “There is no role for the Centre now. The judges have given a stay and ordered a status quo (on the situation as obtaining) before the verdict. The judgment is not operational as of now,” he said.
Reacting to the SP chief’s statement that the Muslim community felt cheated by the Ayodhya verdict, Mr Chidambaram said, “As pointed out by the PM, the correct conclusion is that status quo will be maintained. The judgment is indeed an important document, but it is a fair assumption that appeals may be lodged in the Supreme Court in the next few days or weeks. Therefore, there is no need now to comment on the judgment, which is not operational and status quo as decreed in a Supreme Court order in 1994 will be maintained.”

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Bulk SMS ban now till Oct. 4
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi

Oct. 1: The Centre on Friday extended the ban on bulk SMSes and MMSes till October 4. This has been done so that hateful messages, which could disturb communal harmony, are not spread in the wake of the Ayodhya verdict delivered on Thursday.