Lucknow, October 08: Ruling out giving up claim on the mosque in Ayodhya, the Sunni Central Waqf Board Thursday said exploring possibilities for an amicable solution to the dispute without a concrete proposal was a “futile exercise”.
The Board also said that the proposal should be within the framework of Shariat (Islamic law) and felt that the threat by the oldest litigant, Mohammed Hashim Ansari, to pull out will have not impact on the case.
“Talking about an amicable solution to an age-old dispute without any concrete proposal is a futile exercise. This issue can only be sorted out when claim of Muslims is upheld. We can not surrender our claim,” the Board’s Counsel Zafaryab Jilani said.
“It should come from the opposite party and submitted before the Sunni Waqf Board. We are not going to give any proposal,” Jilani said.
“Whosoever is exploring the possibilities of an amicable solution let him do so. If asked, we will clearly say that we will not give any proposal,” he said when asked to comment on the exercise being carried out by Hashim Ansari for an out-of-court settlement.
On Ansari’s allegation that some persons were conspiring against him, Jilani said that he was probably being provoked by some persons. “I have neither said anything against him nor met him”.
Ansari had yesterday sought an apology from Jilani for terming him as a common litigant in the case.
“Being a simple litigant means that I merely carry bags. It is an attack on prestige and an insult. I only intended to douse flames of fundamentalism at any cost and Jilani can not become a hindrance for me,” Ansari had said.
Jilani said, “There is no point of saying anything against Ansari, let alone threatening him”.
On Ansari’s threat to pull out, the Sunni Waqf Board counsel said that it will have no impact on the case.
“There are five parties from the Muslim side. If Ansari pulls out then four are still left. They will move the Supreme Court,” he said.
Jilani said that he still stands by his earlier statement that space was still left for settlement.
“Even today I say that doors are still open for settlement. But the point is that this issue can only be sorted out when a person honestly wants to resolve it,” he said.
-PTI