Ayodhya ordinance package finds few takers

Disputed site: Shifting focusThe much-awaited Ayodhya package wasn't going to please everyone. But when, after initial doubts, President S.D. Sharma signed the Ayodhya ordinance on January 7 acquiring 60.70 acres of land in and around the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex, its proposals raised the hackles of both sides in the dispute.The rejection of the package - which includes a single-point reference to the Supreme Court on whether a temple existed at the site before the mosque, and setting up two trusts to build a temple and a mosque - has been widespread. The Muslim Law Board, considered the most powerful body to decide matters on behalf of the community, rejected the package calling it un-Islamic, and urged all Muslims, including MLAs and MPs, to condemn it. BJP Vice-President S.S. Bhandari called it "partisan, petty and perverse". The Muslim Wakf Board plans moving the Allahabad High Court against the ordinance. The trusts' move too has been a non-starter. Some of the people approached to head a trust, such as Dr Karan Singh, have turned down the request.The ordinance's passage itself was turbulent. The President and some Muslim Union ministers had differences with Prime Minister Narasimha Rao over the reference to the Supreme Court. C.K. Jaffer Sharief and Ghulam Nabi Azad pointed out that under Article 143 the court's opinion would not be binding on the Government. The President wanted to know why the Government had changed its earlier stand that the reference would be under Article 138(2).Now. the Muslim ministers will be particularly embarrassed by the Personal Law Board's stand. In fact, Sharief did make some noises about resigning.Rao's only gain is that he has shifted the focus to the judiciary. He knew he couldn't build a mosque at its original site since many Hindus would be opposed to it.But the message from the I ordinance is gloomy. Rao is still pushing a political problem to a court of law to avoid taking a decision. With threats of increased litigation, the Ayodhya package may further complicate the problem rather than simplify it.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jan 31, 1993 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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Ayodhya ordinance package finds few takers

Ayodhya package finds few takers.

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