The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Friday said only the Supreme Court’s verdict will be accepted in the ongoing Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi title dispute, reported PTI. The matter is currently pending before the Supreme Court.
“There is no change in our stand,” said AIMPLB Secretary and spokesperson Zafaryab Jilani, according to the Hindustan Times. “Only SC verdict in the case will be acceptable to the board. We had made our position clear in April [2017] also soon after the SC suggested that attempts should be made at for a negotiated settlement. Our position remains the same.”
Jilani said any offer for mutual settlement should be “just and practical”. He added that whatever the court’s verdict be, it should not be seen as victory or loss.
The Supreme Court on Thursday had adjourned the hearing to March 14 as some documents and translations have not yet been filed. The court clarified that it will treat the matter as a “pure land dispute”.
The special bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer has taken up 13 appeals filed against the judgment of the Allahabd High Court, which ruled a three-way split of the disputed 2.77 acres in Ayodhya. The disputed plot has been divided among the Sunni Waqf Board, a Hindu organisation called the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla or Infant Rama, which is represented by the Hindu Mahasabha for the construction of the Ram temple.
Jilani’ s statement comes a day after Maulana Salman Nadwi, a member of the AIMPLB’s executive committee, met Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bengaluru to discuss an out-of-court settlement. Soon, board member Maulana Rahmani said that Nadwi met the Art of Living founder in his personal capacity. “The board has nothing to do with this meeting,” he had said.
The board’s working committee has now launched an investigation into Nadwi’s meeting with Ravi Shankar, The Hindu reported quoting an unidentified official. “The investigating committee will comprise president Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi, general secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani, secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani and working committee member Maulana Arshad Madani,” the official told the daily. “It is difficult to say when the report will be presented. The members have to talk to Maulana Nadwi as well.”
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