Hindus may lay claim to 5,000 sacred sites’

[Guest guest]

Hindus may lay claim to 5,000 sites'

 

 

 

Pradeep Kaushal

 

 

 

New Delhi, May 23: Uttar Pradesh BJP president Vinay Katiyar said

here today that if Muslims failed to take the initiative to

facilitate the construction of a temple at the disputed Ayodhya

site, Hindus may stake their claim on 5,000 sites in courts.

 

``The court has shown the way. Why should we confine (ourselves) to

Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura? Why not talk of 5,000. All sites should

be dug up (to verify the claims on the pattern of Ramjanmabhoomi),''

Katiyar said at a press conference here today.

 

 

 

When pointed out that the court was already seized of the Ayodhya

issue, Katiyar said the court could give its verdict, but could not

enforce a social harmony. This would have been possible if an

initiative had come from the Muslims. There was nothing left to

doubt about the Ayodhya site after the ``recovery of a Shiva idol

and stone images of Nandi bull, snake and lotus flower in the course

of the excavation.''

 

When a journalist sought to know if his observations had the

sanction of the BJP high command, he retorted: ``Do you get a

sanction from your proprietor for every news report you file daily?

I am the state BJP president.''

 

Katiyar would embark on a Jagran Yatra from Garh Mukteshwar tomorrow

to revive the party's electoral fortunes and restore the sagging

morale of the rank and file. He is scheduled to be joined by party

president M. Venkaiah Naidu and HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi at

rallies en route. BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi would

participate in the rally at Garh Mukteshwar. He has been given a go-

ahead by the high command to invoke the temple issue as a part of

the strategy to regain the lost ground.

 

``My target is to repeat the 1991 public mandate,'' Katiyar said.

Though he plans to make people aware of development schemes

initiated by the NDA Government, the focus on Ayodhya is

inevitable. ``This is a development issue too,'' he said.