Community deal in Ayodhya hits Hindutva wall; oldest litigant blames it on vested interests

Lucknow: Mohammad Hashim Ansari, one of the oldest living litigants in the original title suit of the disputed site in Ayodhya, is in a fighting mood once again.

Just two days after a proposal prepared by him in collaboration with Akhara Parishad president Mahant Gyan Das was rejected outright by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Yogi Adityanath, among others, Ansari said he would not sit idle and come up with yet another plan.

“I will keep trying to get the dispute settled through direct negotiations between representatives of Hindu and Muslim communities,” he said on Friday. He wondered why representatives of the VHP and Babri Masjid Action Committee did not appear keen to solve the dispute. “Can’t everyone see that some people want to keep this dispute alive?” he said, adding that all his initiatives were in consultation with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

Ansari and Mahant Gyan Das had proposed that both Ram temple and a mosque could be built on the disputed site with a high wall separating the two structures. But not only VHP joint general secretary Surendra Kumar Jain but the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath had come out strongly in opposition to the plan, terming as being in contravention of law and against the spirit of the judgment in the matter by the Allahabad High Court a few years ago. Adityanath had said that just like one could not imagine a temple to come up in Vatican or Mecca, a mosque was impossible to imagine in Ayodhya since it was the birth place of Lord Ram.

However, Ansari said that he would also seek the help of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Muslim Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in arriving at an out-of-court settlement of the vexed issue. “I will go to Hyderabad to meet Owaisi after Holi and spell out the plan to him,” he said, adding that he had also met Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind leader Afzal Khan and BMAC’s Khaliq Ahmad Khan, and planned to meet leaders of the AIMPLB and Sunni Central Waqf Board as well to discuss the settlement draft with them. Ansari claimed that Owaisi had promised him of all possible help in arriving at a settlement.

The Muslim community at large, Ansari has been claiming, favours a negotiated settlement to the issue and he attributes his hurry to see a settlement so that he can achieve it in his life time. “It is only the politicians in both committees who do not want a settlement. Why don’t they make an effort to settle it, rather than attacking me whenever I come out with a formula?” asked an annoyed Ansari.

Despite his frail health and age-related hearing problems, Hashim appeared in a never-say-die mood and was hopeful that if the formula thus thrashed out after consultations with community leaders was found to be workable, he would submit it to the Supreme Court.