The efforts of the Hindu seer to resolve vexed Ayodhya issue failed to take a concrete shape after Muslim leaders rejected the move saying they would wait for the Supreme Court verdict on this issue.
The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Jayendra saraswati had met All-India Muslim Personal law Board (AIMPlB) general secretary Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali on Saturday and both had discussed the issue but the Muslim cleric rejected any move for fresh dialogue on the Ayodhya issue. This was first time after BJP government came to power at the Centre a fresh move was initiated to solve the Ayodhya issue.
Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali made it clear that Muslims would wait for the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter.” We should wait for court verdict as there is no reason now to initiate any talks at this juncture,” he said.
Maulana, however, contradicted media reports about the Sahankaracharya evolving any new formula to solve the Ayodhya matter.”The Shankaracharya made a courtesy call to me during his lucknow visit. Though we had discussion on several issues including the Babri mosque, we rejected any move for a fresh talk on the matter,” he said.
He said they had however discussed remedy to resolve the rising tension between two communities and sought efforts to solve the issue through amicable actions.
Earlier, it was reported that the Shankaracharya had sought the Maulana’s help for initiating fresh dialogue between Muslim and Hindu leaders for a possible out-of-court settlement of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute. The seer had unsuccessfully held talks with AIMPlB to resolve the dispute in 2002 and 2003 on the request of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
\\Jayendra Saraswati had conveyed that courts would be unable to sort out the dispute as it involves faith. He opined that solution can be reached only through dialogue between the two communities.
The Muslim cleric called for confidence building measures to bring Hindus and Muslim closer before the dialogue. ‘Please talk to people, who are vitiating atmosphere through misinformation campaign on issues like love jihad, cow slaughter and madarsas.
“I told Shankaracharya that he is a revered religious figure and people would listen to him. Therefore, he should try to dispel the misgivings,” he said. The two religious leaders held a closed-door meeting for nearly an hour with the help of interpreters.
The seer had met AIMPlB president Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadwi in March 2002 and proposed that Hindus should be allowed to construct Ram Temple on the undisputed land. The proposal included that status quo will be maintained on the disputed land and both Hindus and Muslims will abide by the court’s verdict. The talks continued for a year. But the seer withdrew his earlier proposal and asked AIMPlB to donate the disputed area to Hindus and think on the same lines for disputed mosques in Mathura and Kashi in 2003. The AIMPlB rejected the proposal saying the site of the mosque is the property of Allah and cannot be alienated by sale, gift or otherwise.