‘Didn’t agree to give up Ayodhya claim’

NEW DELHI: Lawyers for Muslim parties other than the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case on Friday denied reports that they were a part of a proposed a settlement to surrender their claim over the disputed site in Ayodhya.

In statement signed and released to the media, the Muslim parties said: “We must make it absolutely clear that we the appellants before Supreme Court do not accept the proposal made which has been leaked out to the Press, nor the procedure by which the mediation has taken place nor the manner in which a withdrawal of the claim has been suggested as a compromise.”

The statement is signed by five advocates, Ejaz Maqbool, MR Shamshad, Shakil Ahmed Syed, Irshad Ahmed and Fuzail A Ayubi. They represent various five Muslim parties in the Supreme Court in the title suit.

On October 16, the three member mediation panel filed a report in the Supreme Court suggesting that some kind of a settlement had been agreed to between the Hindu and Muslim parties. According to people familiar

› We... do not accept the proposal made which has been leaked out to the press nor the procedure by which the mediation has taken place MUSLIM PARTY LAWYERS

with the development, the Sunni Waqf Board had agreed to surrender its claim to the disputed site, provided the interests of Muslims and mosques were protected in other parts of the country. To be sure, neither the Ram Lalla Virajman, Ramjanam Bhoomi Nyas nor individual Muslim parties were part of the settlement.

On Thursday, the lawyer for the UP Sunni Waqf Board, Shahid Rizvi,added to the confusion and claimed that the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board was willing

to withdraw its claim.

Attacking the Supreme Courtappointed mediation panel and the parties to the settlement for leaking contents of the settlement proposal on the last day of the hearing in the Babri MasjidRam Mandir case in the apex court, the Muslim parties have said that “the recent attempts before Mediation Committee were not representative”.

Iqbal Ansari, one of the Muslim litigants in the Ayodhya title dispute, has distanced himself from the Waqf Board’s decision to withdraw from the case.

“The Supreme Court has completed hearing in the case and has refused to entertain any new affidavit. In such a scenario then there is no point in Waqf Board’s proposal to withdraw its claim over the disputed site,” he said.

“If the Sunni Central Waqf Board has decided to withdraw, it is their decision. It has nothing to do with me,” Ansari added. “Whatever the Supreme Court decides, we will accept it.”

Another Muslim litigant in the title suit, Khaliq Ahmad Khan, a native of Ayodhya, said: “Due process has not been followed by the Sunni Central Waqf Board in withdrawing its case.”

“First, a meeting of the Waqf Board should have been convened. In this meeting, a proposal to withdraw the case should have been mooted. Then after due approval of the Waqf Board, its Chairman should have given affidavit in Supreme Court seeking permission to withdraw from the case,” Khan added.

The statement released by the Muslim parties also said: “It is difficult to accept that any mediation could have been done under the circumstances, especially when the main Hindu parties had openly stated that they were not open to any settlement and all the other Muslim Appellants made it clear, but, they would not do so.”

The Supreme Court, in February, appointed a three-member mediation panel of retired Supreme Court judge, FMI Kalifulla, spiritual guru Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu to explore the possibility of an out of court settlement to the contentious issue.

The first round of mediation efforts failed and the court began daily hearings in the case. However, in September, a second attempt was made and the panel submitted its report to the fivejudge bench on Wednesday.

Calling the effort to revive mediation towards the end of the hearing “mischief”, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) said the Hindu parties have not participated in any mediation effort.

“We have seen some press reports about a settlement on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue by the Sunni Waqf Board. The VHP wishes to make it clear that the Hindu side …have not been approached for and not participated in any mediation effort after the hearing of appeals commenced in the Supreme Court. We have not even been intimated of any proposal for settlement… Reviving the mediation bogey at the fag-end of the hearing appears to be a mischief and an effort to cause confusion. We are of the considered view that it would be in the interest of the country and all concerned parties to now await the judgment of the Supreme Court,” said VHP working president Alok Kumar.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Bhaiyaji Joshi said on Friday he was hopeful that the SC verdict in the dispute will be in favour of Hindus.