Opposition attacks India PM for comments on Hindu temple

December 9, 2000
Web posted at: 7:40 AM HKT (2340 GMT)

NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) -- India's opposition demanded on Friday that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee resign or apologize for saying that most Indians want a Hindu temple built on the ruins of a historic Muslim mosque.

Both houses of parliament were suspended without transacting any business after deputies of the main opposition Congress party, and of regional and communist groups, trooped to the center of the upper and lower chambers and chanted slogans.

"Prime minister must resign. Down with Vajpayee," they shouted, and vowed to block all government business.

Lawmakers said an all-party meeting called by lower house speaker Ganti Balayogi failed to resolve the deadlock.

"There is a stalemate, we have said we will not allow the house to run until prime minister takes back his statement," said Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, a lawmaker from a regional party.

Vajpayee's government had aimed to launch a series of crucial reform measures during the current parliamentary session.

But proceedings have been paralyzed after Vajpayee touched off an uproar last Wednesday by saying the construction of a temple to the Hindu god-king Ram at the contested site was "an expression of national feeling."

The 16th century mosque, built by the Mughal ruler Babar, was torn down by Hindu zealots in 1992, triggering religious riots in which more than 3,000 people were killed across the country.

Devout Hindus believe the site, in the northern town of Ayodhya, is the birthplace of the god Ram. The dispute over the site has dragged on in the courts for decades.

Vajpayee poured fuel on the fire on Thursday when he said "all of India" wanted a temple built at the site and suggested that a mosque could be constructed elsewhere in the town.

Vajpayee's allies in the federal coalition also demanded that he clarify his stand on the vexed issue.

Sudip Bandhopadhya, a leader of the regional Trinamool Congress, said his group planned to seek a meeting of the coalition's coordination committee to discuss the issue.

Vajpayee's coalition took office last year after its members agreed to drop from their joint agenda divisive themes such as the building of the temple, a plank dear to his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Separately, the New York-based agency Human Rights Watch accused the BJP and its affiliates of trying to undermine India's commitment to secularism.

The rights agency said in its annual report that the Hindu nationalist policies of the BJP encouraged attacks on lower caste individuals and minority Muslim and Christian communities.

The BJP has not responded specifically to the report, but always denies any deep-seated bias against religious minorities.

Sports Minister Uma Bharati, one of three BJP ministers whose resignation the opposition has demanded after they were named in a federal police probe into the mosque's destruction, reiterated that a temple was the only way to resolve the issue.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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