Ayodhya, February 28: Negotiations for a peaceful out of court settlement of the Ayodhya dispute have reached their final stage and their outcome will soon be submitted before the Supreme Court, Hashim Ansari and Mahant Gyan Das, who began the process, on Monday claimed.
“The negotiation process is in the final stage and the outcome will be submitted before the Supreme Court soon, Hashim Ansari, the main petitioner in the Babri Masjid case, told PTI.
Denying reports that he has approached the Supreme Court because he has given up hope for an out of court settlement of the dispute, Ansari said moving to the apex court was part of the process to implement an out of court settlement which they have worked out after taking into confidence the Hindu and Muslim religious leaders across the country.
“If I am not a party in the Supreme Court, then on which basis I shall produce the agreement of negotiation before the judges,” asked Ansari who along with Mahant Gyan Das, began the process for a peaceful settlement of the dispute in the wake of Allahabad High court verdict in the Ayodhya title suits in September last year.
Ansari had approached the Supreme Court as a party of the Sunni Central Wakf Board of Uttar Pradesh in the case on February 13 this year. The other two parties in the case are the Nirmohi Akhara and “Friends of Ram Lalla”.
Terming reports that the peace process has collapsed as a “propaganda spread by hardliners”, chief priest of Ayodhya’s famous Hanuman Garhi temple Mahant Gyan Das said, “We are at the final stage of our efforts and Hashim Ansari’s going to the Supreme Court was pre-decided and I was well informed.”
Being a party in the case in the Supreme Court, Hashim Ansari will have the right to put the agreement reached through negotiations before the court, the priest said.
When asked about the outlines of the agreement, Das said, “Neither Hindus nor Muslims will feel defeated as the negotiation being decided by the religious leaders will bring joy and peace in the country.”
_————-PTI