SC calls for outofcourt settlement for Ayodhya
CJI OFFERS TO MEDIATE Rivals welcome proposal but remain wary of outcome
The Supreme Court called for an amicable settlement to a decades-old dispute over a religious site in Ayodhya on Tuesday, saying the “sensitive and sentimental matter” is best settled out of court.
Chief Justice JS Khehar even offered to mediate such out-ofcourt negotiations, the latest push from the courts to resolve a dispute over a 2.7-acre land that remains India’s most potent communal flashpoint between Hindus and Muslims. Rival religious groups that stake claim to the site said they weren’t against the idea but appeared unenthused, given that nine attempts at negotiated settlement had failed. The first efforts date back to 1859.
“These are issues where all the parties can sit together and arrive at a consensual decision to end the dispute,” Justice Khehar told the rival counsels. The court said both sides must adopt a “give a bitand take a bit” approach. The remarks came after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy sought an urgent hearing.
BLOOD-SOAKED DISPUTE
For centuries, Hindus and Muslims have quarrelled over the ownership of a small parcel of land in the historical town of Ayodhya. To many Hindus the site is the birthplace of their god— king Rama, and that the 16th century Muslim invader, Babar, built a mosque there after destroying a temple.
In 1992, Hindu zealots tore down the Babri mosque, sparking nationwide riots in which about 3,000 people were killed.
A decades-long court battle has failed to resolve the dispute.
In 2010, the Allahabad high court ruled Hindus would get two-thirds of the land and be allowed to keep a makeshift temple that was built over the razed mosque’s central dome. Muslim groups challenged the verdict in the top court.
Lawyers representing the two sides did not budge from their known positions on the dispute but said they weren’t against the idea. But Asaduddin Owaisi, the rabble-rousing Muslim leader of AIMIM party, virtually ruled out an out-of-court settlement.
“Several rounds of talks on earlier occasion have failed to yield result… the case was about the (land) title which the Allahabad high court wrongly decided as a partnership case,” he said.