Wednesday, July 6 2005 13:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Surat: Only divine intervention could have united the sharply divided Sangh Parivar and it happened literally yesterday (July 5, 2005) following the terrorist attack on the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.

The three-day conclave of the Rashtriya Swavayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Surat, which was expected to redefine the Sangh's relationship with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the wake of party President L K Advani's statements in Pakistan last month, which sought to question the very ideology of the Parivar, concluded that the message to stop internal bickering and project a united face.

Though Advani's statements on Pakistan founder M A Jinnah, Akhand Bharat and Ayodhya demolition came in for sharp criticism during the meeting, a terrorist strike paradoxically gave a godsend opportunity to the entire Parivar to close their ranks and bring back Ayodhya to the centre stage of national politics.

It was the Ram Temple movement in the late 80's, which catapulted the Sangh Parivar to the national limelight, culminating in the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December six, 1992.

In a virtual u-turn yesterday (July 5, 2005), VHP supremo Ashok Singhal, who was among the first to demand the replacement of Advani and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with young pro-Hindu leaders following the party Lok Sabha poll debacle, asserted that the Parivar was an "Abhedya Durg", impregnable fortress.

"The Sangh Parivar is an impregnable fortress. Nobody would succeed in breaking it," Singhal told a press conference yesterday when asked about the differences in the saffron brigade.

Asserting that the Parivar was an insurmountable peak under the leadership of RSS chief K S Sudershan and General Secretary Mohan Bhagwat, he reminded the media of their 'miscalculation' during the Gujarat polls and cautioned that any similar attempt to divide the Parivar would be counter-productive.

BJP's worst critic and VHP firebrand leader Praveen Togadia diplomatically replied that the Parivar comprised the 102 crore people of India.

Both leaders evaded questions on Vajpayee's peace initiative in Pakistan and Advani's remarks in that country.

Sources said the discussion on the current political situation in the country was expected to be decisive in recasting Sangh-BJP ties, but the attack diverted the issue and leaders focussed on drawing a strategy to mould public opinion in the Parivar's favour.

"It was decided that all Parivar organisations would work in tandem on the issue and leave the differences to be sorted out on a later date," said a senior functionary.

He said the broad emphasis of the meeting was on putting a united foot forward, avoiding any public criticism of each other, using the Parivar platform to discuss ideology and maintaining discipline.

"The differences were so sharp that the RSS was in a dilemma on how to resolve it. But the Ayodhya attack, though unfortunate, came as manna from heaven," said the senior Pracharak.