The All India Muslim Personal law Board (AIMPlB) and the Babri Action Committee have said they were against the out of court settlement of the Ayodhya dispute. One of the Hindu contestants in Ayodhya dispute, Ramlala Virajmaan has also cfriticised Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for meddling in Ayodhya dispute.
“Sri Ravishankar is ignorant of the facts relating to the Ayodhya dispute and he is meddling in these affairs at the behest of some Islamic nations to join the race for the Nobel peace prize’’, said Ranjana Agnihotri, the counsel of the Ramlala Virajmaan. She added `` the statement of Sri Ravishankar for mediation in Ramjnma bhoomi-Babri masjid dispute has hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus and we are against mediation in this case.
The AIMPlB said they do not favour the arbitration and the dispute can only be settled through adjudication. The AIMPlB has denied that any of their authorized representatives met the Art Of living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for an out of court negotiated settlement of the Ayodhya dispute. The AIMPlB member Zafaryab Jilani said on Sunday that no such decision had been made by the board.
“The Ayodhya dispute cannot be settled by arbitration. We will never withdraw our claim on the land in Ayodhya where once the Babri mosque stood and demolished on December 6, 1992. If Sri Sri Ravishankar wants to mediate on this issue then he should send a formal proposal to the AIMPlB’’, said Jafaryaab Jilani, who was in Delhi on Sunday.
“If some individual members of the board did meet the Art of living founder, it doesn’t represent what AIMPlB stands by. The position of the board is very clear on this and that the solution is possible only through adjudication and not mediation. There have been no attempts by the board to meet Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. We had a meeting of lawyers even on Sunday in Delhi to prepare for the hearing on December5 in the Supreme Court, so there is no merit or legal value to any such proposition,” Jilani said.
“We have 251 members in AIMPlB and many of them are from Bangalore. But the AIMPlB did not authorize anybody to negotiate on its behalf,” he said on Sunday. He added, “If some individual is doing anything then that does not hamper the legal stand of the board and will not be considered an action on part of AIMPlB’’.
The AIMPlB is not a party in Ayodhya dispute case pending in the Supreme Court. The board however wields considerable power and influence in the community. The Muslim community is represented by the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board. There are about a dozen contestants in the court case, with six each from both the communities. The title suit, however, is being fought between the Nirmohi Akhara and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board.