PDP asks Farooq Abdullah to clear NC's stand on Ram Mandir, Article 35-A

The Peoples Democratic Party Sunday asked National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah to make his party's position clear on issues like Ram Mandir and Article 35-A.

Senior PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar alleged that NC's contradictory positions in the two cases, which are being heard by the Supreme Court, "convey something more than what meets the eye".

"Farooq Abdullah and his party should make their position clear over Ram Mandir and Article 35-A," he added.

Akhtar said at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear that the country will have to wait for the judicial process to end for construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, Abdullah has "stuck his neck out and pleaded for circumventing the judicial process so that he is able to participate in the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Ram temple".

"Dr Abdullah is entitled to his faith and to his position as a Ram bhakt but this involves not just the sentiments of one community but the entire country's law-abiding people who want this issue to be settled through the judicial process," he said.

Abdullah had on Friday told the media in Delhi that the Ayodhya issue should be resolved through dialogue and the Ram temple should be built without delay.

"It was ironic to find that while the NC president demands construction of Ram temple despite the case being sub-judice. He openly refused to comment over his stand on Article 35-A, stating that the case is being heard by the country's top court and he cannot take a stand on it," Akhtar said.