AYODHYA SAINTS DISMISS CLAIM THAT RAM WAS BORN IN PAK

LUCKNOW: Ayodhya saints have reacted angrily to a book by a senior All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member claiming that Ram, revered by Hindus as God, wasn’t born in the present day Ayodhya. Abdul Rahim Quraishi, assistant general secretary and board spokesperson, has in his book ‘Facts of Ayodhya Episode’ suggested that Ram was born in Pakistan.

The head of the Ram Janmbhoomi Nyas Mahant Nritya Gopal Das said on phone from Ayodhya that “at least this means that the Muslim community has conceded that Ram was God and that he took birth. As far as the debate over his birthplace is concerned, I think it’s all meaningless.”

Several other saints have also expressed ‘shock and surprise’ at Quraishi’s finding that nowhere in the Hindu scriptures is the Gangetic plain mentioned as the birthplace of Ram. The AIMPLB member has instead suggested that Ram was born somewhere in Pakistan or in northwestern India, a suggestion that even some Muslims are finding hard to accept.

Haji Mehboob, a petitioner from the Muslim side in the Ayodhya title suit, said, “Since our birth we heard that Ram was born in Ayodhya on the banks of the Saryu river. Now, on what basis is Quraishi claiming that Ram was not born in present-day Ayodhya is something he alone can tell. As far as we are concerned, we don’t agree with him.”

Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Ayodhya title suit too, dismissed the findings mentioned in the book. “That Ram was born in Ayodhya is known to all. This book should be banned,” he said. The AIMPLB is party to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute which is now pending in the Supreme Court.

SEVERAL SAINTS HAVE ALSO EXPRESSED ‘SHOCK AND SURPRISE’ AT QURAISHI’S FINDING THAT NOWHERE IN THE HINDU SCRIPTURES IS THE GANGETIC PLAIN MENTIONED AS THE BIRTHPLACE OF RAM