Best to wait for SC verdict to resolve Ayodhya temple dispute
NEWDELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Friday that parties involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi-babri Masjid dispute should wait for the Supreme Court’s decision even as he reaffirmed his call for a resolution of the row through dialogue.
The 45-year-old priest-politician had said in May that the dispute should be resolved through talks. He visited and prayed at the makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya, the first Uttar Pradesh chief minister do so in 15 years.
He reiterated his position on the issue at the 15th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Friday.
“We hoped that a consensus would be reached, but that has not happened. We should wait for the final verdict,” Adityanath said.
He also pointed out that any dialogue will be possible if other parties involved in the case are interested.
“December 6 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition. The Supreme Court will hear the matter from December 5. We were always in favour of dialogue and taking a decision based on a consensus,” the saffron-clad UP chief minister said.
“Now that the Supreme Court is hearing the matter, it’s best that we wait for it,” he added.
A three-member bench of the top court will hear petitions challenging the Allahabad high court’s 2010 decision in a civil suit between Hindu and Muslim organisations over ownership of the disputed land.
The high court had ruled that the land should be split between the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
“If both parties reach a consensus and inform the government, we’ll oblige,” the chief minister said.
When reminded about the demolition of the Babri mosque and the riots that followed, he said: “We won’t let anyone take law into his hands.”
The Ayodhya issue has at times defined the BJP’S politics. However, Adityanath clarified that development is his party’s key agenda, not religion.
“If every family receives electricity, how is that a saffron agenda?” asked the chief minister, who is also the head priest of Gorakhpur’s influential Gorakhnath shrine and a five-term parliamentarian.