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Ayodhya Muslim litigant visits seer to urge
negotiated settlement
Monday, October 04, 2010 09:56:37 AM,
IANS
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Lucknow:
In a major development, Mohammed Hashim Ansari - who has fought
legal battles since 1961 for the land where the Babri Masjid stood
- Sunday visited a prominent Hindu seer to urge him to jointly
work out a negotiated settlement on the lines indicated in the Sep
30 verdict of the Allahabad High Court.
The 90-year-old Ansari walked down to the residence of Mahant Gyan
Das, who not only heads Ayodhya's Hanuman Garhi temple but also
the Akhara Parishad.
"We are quite optimistic that we would be able to find a pragmatic
solution to this tangle through mediation and talks - minus
politicians, who have been using us all these years," they said
after their meeting.
"I have full faith in Mahant Gyan Das," Ansari told IANS over
telephone from Ayodhya Sunday evening. Das reciprocated his
feelings, saying: "I am really touched by the fact that this
90-year old gentleman came down to my place to express his desire
to being an end to this whole issue through talks instead of
spinning it into another endless legal battle before the apex
court."
"As long as outsiders do not poke their nose, I am confident that
the people of Ayodhya like Hashim Ansari and myself could find a
mutually acceptable solution in consultation with other prominent
locals who have been closely associated with the issue from either
side," Das said.
After 21 years of hearing in the Allahabad High Court, the final
verdict was passed by a three-judge special bench, comprising
Justices S.U.Khan, Sudhir Agrawal and Dharam Veer Sharma, which
divided the disputed land (measuring 90 ft x 120 ft) into three
parts - one for Ram Lalla, one for the Nirmohi Akhara and one for
the Sunni Wakf Board.
The court also suggested re-adjustment of land to the parties out
of the surplus 67 acres of adjoining land acquired by the central
government.
"Since the court has given three months time during which status
quo will be maintained, it is a golden opportunity for both sides
to find ways and means to see that the dispute does not linger on
endlessly once again" said Ansari.
"I had always maintained that I would abide by the order of the
court; now that the court has found a novel way to balance the
whole issue, we must take the cue and close the chapter amicably,
without re-entering into another legal war that would probably not
conclude in my lifetime," he added.
"I can see that the court has relied heavily upon the sentiments
and feelings of the people, much to the chagrin of a large chunk
of Muslims who were looking up to the court to give its verdict
strictly in accordance with the law book; but still I am of the
view, it is high time that Muslims and Hindus sit across the table
and resolve the age old issue through talks and reconciliation,"
Ansari said.
Ansari also wanted to keep politicians at a distance from any out
of court settlement. "Both sides have seen the fate of our
prolonged dependence on politicians, who have only used the issue
to fulfill their own political ends in all these years," he
emphasised.
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