'Give disputed Ayodhya land to Hindu parties': Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's aide presents 'compromise formula' to AIMPLB

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s aide has presented a “compromise formula” to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) in the Ayodhya dispute, according to News18. Ayodhya Sadbhavna Samnvyay Maha Samiti, which is promoted by Ravi Shankar, has proposed to the AIMPLB to give the disputed land for the Ram Temple to the Hindu parties. A three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court had ordered in 2010 that the land be partitioned equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. [caption id=“attachment_4226551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Image courtesy: srisriravishankar.org[/caption] Samiti president Amarnath Mishra proposed in a letter to the AIMPLB president that they instead construct a mosque on the land to be given by the Nirmohi Akhara. UNI reported that copies of the eight-page letter to AIMPLB chairperson Maulana Rabe Hassan Nadvi, were given to eight other persons, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Mishra’s letter is the first proposal given by a Hindu organisation to AIMPLB. Meanwhile, Ravi Shankar met Muslim clerics in Bengaluru to discuss the issue on Thursday. After the meeting, a statement from Art of Living said that leaders from the AIMPLB and Sunni Waqf Board met Ravi Shankar and expressed support for an out-of-court settlement in the Ayodhya matter. “They have supported the proposal of shifting the masjid outside to another place. Many Muslim stakeholders are cooperating in this matter,” an Art of Living statement said. It said that 16 leaders from multiple organisations attended the meeting at which representatives and scholars from various states were present too. “A bigger meeting is slated to be held in Ayodhya soon,” the statement said. AIMPLB executive member Maulana Syed Salman Hussain Nadvi attended the meeting, as also Uttar  Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board chairperson Zufar Ahmad Farooqui, Maulana Wasif Hasan of Teelay Wali Masjid in Lucknow and  retired IAS officer Anis Ansari. Other attendees were Centre for Objective Research and Development (CORD) director Athar Husain Siddiqui, businessman AR Rahman, London-based World Islamic Forum chairman Maulana Isa Mansuri, Lucknow advocate Imran Ahmed, former Haj committee of India chairman A Aboobucker and Dr Musa Kaiser of Bengaluru. Ravi Shankar, who has offered to mediate in the row, has been endorsing an out-of-court settlement in the title dispute. “After 100 years, one particular community could think justice was not done… same issue could be raised again… If this issue has to be resolved forever, the only solution is that a grand temple is constructed with the cooperation of both communities,”  the Art of Living founder was quoted as saying by  The Indian Express in November. In October 2017, AIMPLB member and Convenor of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) Zafaryab Jilani had said that the solution is possible “only through adjudication, and not mediation.” “We will never withdraw our claim to the land in Ayodhya where once the Babri mosque stood and was demolished on 6 December, 1992. If Ravi Shankar wants to mediate on this issue, he should send a formal proposal to the AIMPLB,” Jilani had said. The Supreme Court, which began its final hearing in the title dispute case on Thursday, said that it would not hear arguments related to the political or religious angle in the matter. A special bench heard by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said it would deal with the case as a “pure land dispute” and clarified that it never intended to hear the case on a “day-to-day basis”. “Once we start hearing the case, it will go on,” News18 quoted Misra as saying. The top court has fixed 14 March as the next date of hearing. With inputs from PTI