MANGALURU: Former Prime Minister and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda, reacting to the Supreme Court verdict on Saturday, said that Hindus were committed to the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. However, he said there was no clarity about the Trust to be formed by the Centre to monitor the construction of the temple.
“Under whose jurisdiction will the Trust function and who will be part of it? Will BJP and RSS be part of it?” he said. Gowda became Prime Minister in 1996, three years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Though the BJP had emerged the single largest party in the 1996 Lok Sabha polls, other secular parties were not keen to be identified with it after the Ram Mandir issue. The Congress supported a Gowda-led alliance to keep BJP away from power.
Gowda also said that since the apex court felt that demolition of the Babri Masjid was wrong, it could have ordered the Centre to give cash compensation for the aggrieved parties, who could be minorities fighting for land rights in Ayodhya. “From my long experience in politics, I feel the court might have ordered the Centre to give compensation. I am not saying that those who demolished it should give it.”
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He said the court should have been specific on the location of five acres of alternative land for construction of the mosque. “Should the land be given in Ayodhya or Delhi? It should have been clear so there is no confusion in future. Now it’s left to the Centre or state government (Uttar Pradesh),” he said.Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy tweeted saying that all should respect the verdict and uphold peace and non-violence, which is the country’s philosophy.