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The convenor of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee Zafaryab Jilani said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is indulging in 'petty politicking' over the Ayodhya issue.
Vajpayee last week announced that his government was holding secret talks with Hindu and Muslim groups in a bid to resolve the dragging row by March 2002.
The announcement caught everyone by surprise, and leaders of both Hindu and Muslims organisations involved in the controversy have denied any dialogue was being held with them.
"It is a politically motivated statement aimed to give a moral boost to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad," Jilani said.
"It is unfortunate that a man of his stature should have indulged in such petty politicking," he added.
The VHP has threatened to start building the Ram temple in March.
The dispute over the land on which the mosque stood is pending in the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh. The Supreme Court has ruled that status quo should be maintained until the final verdict.
Jilani said the government had not held any talks with either the AIBMC or the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
"I do not want to use strong language, but his (Vajpayee's) assertion is a naked lie," he said.
"He (Vajpayee) is an ally of the VHP. He wants the VHP to create a stir so that he can back them," he said.
"The VHP is openly challenging the authority of the courts," Jilani said.
"We have categorically stated that it is the duty of the government to stop all attempts to start temple construction," he said.
"We have also called upon all secular parties to stop them. If these efforts fail and the construction on the mosque gets under way, the Muslims may have no option left but to try and stop these people themselves," he said.
"However, if the court decides that they can make the temple, then we have no right to stop them, but if it held to the contrary, then they have no authority to go ahead and construct it," Jilani said.
Indo-Asian News Service
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