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Give up claim on Ayodhya, RSS chief urges Muslims

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Professor Rajendra Singh has urged Muslims to give up their claim to the disputed Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi site in Ayodhya as well as the disputed shrines in Kashi and Mathura without making it a matter of prestige.

Addressing a rally of RSS volunteers in Jabalpur on Saturday, he said Hindus and Muslims could employ all their energies for the development of the nation if there is no dispute between them.

He also urged the swayamsevaks to extend "maximum" co-operation to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, saying this is the time when the RSS can contribute to building the nation.

"With Vajpayee at the helm of affairs, the RSS can be instrumental in making our countrymen aware of the rich Hindu culture, which will lift the country from the present economic crisis and also improve the image of India abroad," he said.

He claimed that since the advent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government at the Centre, the spirit of nationalism has been rekindled in the hearts of Indians at home and abroad.

The RSS chief asked the government to continue its nuclear programme and develop missile technology because the country's neighbours possess missiles with nuclear warheads or the capability to assemble such warheads at short notice. He also congratulated it for bringing the hundred-year-old Cauvery waters dispute to a satisfactory conclusion.

UNI

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