This refers to the report, “SC wants Ayodhya verdict via parleys” (March 22). Chief Justice of India Justice JS Khehar’s suggestion that he is willing to sit as a negotiator with the mediators appointed by the Hindu and Muslim plaintiffs in the vexed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute is workable only if all the three plaintiffs in the civil dispute agree to make compromises on their respective claims.
While some Hindu groups and BJP leaders have welcomed the apex court’s offer, the Sunni Waqf Board and the All India Muslim Personal law Board’s consent is crucial, which is unlikely.
At a time when the apex court recently questioned the discharge of lK Advani and other BJP leaders, who were present at the complex when the mosque was razed, and the criminality of the demolition still remains to be proved, Hindu groups and BJP leaders would rather throw all their weight behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development and leave Ayodhya firmly on the backburner.
The lower echelons need to realise that the hearts of Indians could also be won by better power, better roads and better rule of law — things that take the country forward and not back.