Wide support for 3-point formula

Wide support for 3-point formula

1993 1-2 January-February 12Wide support for 3-point formula (293) The majority of both Hindus and Muslims in Bombay approve of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s three-point plan to resolve the Ayodhya problem and reduce communal tension in the country, according to an opinion poll conducted by MARG. The poll, commissioned by SUNDAY MID-DAY, involved 805 personal interviews with men and women of all social strata.

The interviews were carried out between February 3 and 5. In view of the recent communal violence in Bombay, MARG used Muslim interviewers to seek the opinions of Muslim citizens and Hindu interviewers to obtain the reactions of the majority community. In each interview, the three-point plan (Muslims give up any plan to rebuild the Masjid; Hindus give up any demands on other Muslim religious sites; and the Constitution be amended to ensure that the status of no place of worship other than Ayodhya can be changed) was explained to the person being interviewed and then his or her reactions sought.

The MARG poll suggests that the Maulana’s plan would find favour with Bombayites of all communities. Of the 517 Hindu men and women interviewed, 69 per cent said they would approve of such a plan, while 25 per cent expressed themselves against it. Among the 170 Muslim men and women interviewed, 63 per cent were in favour of the Maulana’s proposal while 29 per cent were against it.

Those who did not indicate their clear approval of the Maulana’s plan were asked by MARG whether or not the plan could serve at least as a useful starting point for discussion. About a third of such respondents felt that the plan could fulfill that purpose. Thus in total only about one in five of the people interviewed rejected the Maulana’s plan outright.

(Courtesy: SUNDAY MID-DAY, Bombay, February 7, 1993)