DRAFT RESOLUTION ON THE AYODHYA ISSUE

The 17th Congress of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the continuing actions of the constituents of the RSS combine to stoke communal tensions over the Ayodhya issue even after the Supreme Court’s welcome and unambiguous judgment to maintain the status quo. The highly objectionable statement of the RSS that the minority community has to depend for its security on the goodwill of the majority community is a naked threat not only to the community concerned but to the very fabric of secular India. The security of every community is guaranteed by the Constitution of India, not by fascistic forces like those led and spawned by the RSS. The threat of construction of the temple on land vested with Central Government by the VHP and the steps being taken to revive the temple movement is a threat to communal amity and national unity. The VHP has been emboldened because of the patronage extended to them by the Vajpayee Government. Its policy of appeasement and connivance on the Ayodhya issue has brought the country to the brink of a crisis ominously reminiscent of 1992 when even while making verbal commitments to uphold the court judgement the Hinduva forces were actually working for the demolition of the masjid. Right from the declaration of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad at the Kumbh mela last year that it would commence construction of the mandir by March 15, the Vajpayee Government has step by step facilitated the plan of the VHP. It permitted the transport of the material for the proposed mandir into Ayodhya, BJP Ministers in UP encouraged and participated in yatras for the mandir which were marked by the most communal and anti-minority slogans, it legitimized the preposterous plan of the VHP to hand over the acquired land to it by referring it for legal opinion and then finally in the most shameful act of advancing the VHP agenda, the Attorney General of India, appeared on behalf of the government arguing before the Supreme Court for the conduct of puja for a temple which in its blueprint has its garb griha (sanctum sanctorum) in the precise place where the Babri Masjid stood. He even assured the court that no communal tensions would be caused. The Supreme Court judgement clearly ruled out holding any puja on any part of the land. By sending its own emissary to accept the shila daan even though technically outside the acquired land, the Vajpayee Government has signaled its bias in favour of the VHP. Even though the VHP has openly announced that its plans for mandir construction remain unchanged, the Central Government has lifted the restriction on the free movement of so-called karsevaks into Ayodhya when by their own declarations it is in preparation to break the court orders at some time decided by them. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal are spreading hatred against the minorities and indulging in acts of vandalism such as the attack on the Orissa assembly. Yet the BJP and the Vajpayee government patronises these organizations in shark contrast to the manner in which it has banned organisations like the SIMI. In this context the constituents of the NDA Government have expressed their disapproval of the ruling party’s handling of the Ayodhya issue. But this is not enough. The entire country can see that as far as Ayodhya issue is concerned the BJP has violated not once but repeatedly the declared programme of the NDA It is bringing the country to the brink of a communal conflagration of which its carnage against the minorities in Gujarat is a most shocking example. Yet if the NDA partners do not disassociate from the Government at this juncture they would have to answer to the people. The 17th Congress of the CPI(M) calls on the NDA partners to rethink their position on this vital issue facing the country. The CPI(M) reiterates that at this juncture the Ayodhya issue can be settled only by the courts. It resolves to intensify its efforts to gather all the secular forces, the mass of people in this country in a powerful movement in defence of the constitutional guarantees of secularism, to enforce the rule of law and to foil the communal provocations of the RSS-VHP combine.