PM petitioned in Indian temple dispute

Sadhus, or Hindu holy men, attend a gathering of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or the World Hindu Council, in New Delhi

NEW DELHI, India -- Hindu religious leaders have held talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee seeking his intervention in an explosive row with minority Muslims over a place of worship in the north of the country.

The talks followed the arrival of hundreds of Hindus in New Delhi at the end of a march designed to press demands that a temple be built in Ayodhya where a mosque was razed nine years ago.

A government statement after the meeting said Vajpayee has sought legal opinion on whether the undisputed plots of land near the site where the mosque once stood can be handed over to the Hindu trust which would build the temple.

Vajpayee will ask the law ministry for ways to quickly resolve the dispute between Hindu and Muslim groups in the courts, where it has dragged on for decades.

"The delegation agreed with the Prime Minister that the Ayodhya issue should be resolved amicably and in a manner that strengthens national unity and communal harmony," the government statement said.

MESSAGE BOARD What steps can bring Hindu and Muslim  communities closer together?

More than 3,000 people died in nationwide riots after the 16th century Babri mosque was torn down by a mob of Hindu hardliners in 1992, who believed the site to be the birth-place of lord-king Rama.

For nine years, a small makeshift Hindu temple has stood at the site of the former mosque, protected by hundreds of policemen as India's Supreme Court hears petitions on rival claims to the area by Hindu and Muslim hard-liners.

Activists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), led by their seers, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday.

Muslims in India are demanding their mosque be rebuilt

Numbering in the tens of thousands, the devotees arrived after a five-day, 350-mile march from Ayodhya led by an ornate chariot.

The group has set a March 12 deadline to clear any obstacles stopping the temple from being built.

Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party shot from obscurity in the 1980s to the political center-stage on the back of an aggressive Hindu revivalist campaign, including the building of the temple in Ayodhya.

But since coming to power at the head of a coalition government, the BJP has put all divisive issues including the row over the temple on the backburner.

Election influence

Indian courts looking at the decades-old dispute over the place of worship have banned any activity at the site, and the government has said it is committed to upholding court orders.

Vajpayee's partners in the ruling National Democratic Alliance met at his house on Saturday to discuss the issue, which comes at a time when the country is locked in a tense military face-off with Pakistan over an attack on the Indian parliament.

Political rivals of the BJP, which controls the most populous Uttar Pradesh state where Ayodhya is located, said the temple issue was being revived with an eye on the elections scheduled for next month.

Opinion polls said the BJP is trailing in Uttar Pradesh, which could have a bearing on the stability of its federal government comprising more than 20 parties.