The proposed formula for an out-of-court settlement on the Ayodhya issue now includes a temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site and a mosque outside the disputed land but within the Panch Kosi Parikrama area.
According to highly placed sources, this is the formula devised by the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, Hashim Ansari and the Nirmohi Akhara, the three main parties in the title suits who met on Friday for the first time to discuss the possibility of a settlement.
Mohammed Hashim Ansari, it is learnt, insisted that the mosque should be built within the Panch Kosi Parikrama and the Hindu leaders apparently had no objection to the proposal. The leaders even identified three sites for the mosque.
The sites include the land in Haridwar Patti that lies in front of Hashim Ansari’s house, the land that lies behind the Gokul Bhavan temple and the land near Vidya Kund on the Ayodhya-Darshan Nagar road.
Earlier, when the talks began, the Hindu leaders proposed a mosque in Sahanwa, about five km from Ayodhya. However, on Hashim Ansari’s insistence, it was agreed upon that the mosque would be constructed in Ayodhya itself. Ansari argued that the grave of Mir Baqi was in Sahanwa and a mosque could not be built next to a grave.
Talking to this correspondent on Saturday, one of the participants in the meeting said the prime concern of all the three leaders was that the issue must be solved before the three-month deadline expires.
“We will continue our efforts even if some people challenge the verdict in the
Supreme Court. We will be sending this formula to the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, and also to Hindu leaders, and we are confident that there should be no hitch in accepting it. Hindus will get their temple and Muslims will have their mosque and the two communities will inch closer with this formula,” he explained. The formula will also be communicated to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust.
Meanwhile, Hashim Ansari formally met Mahant Bhaskar Das of Nirmohi Akhara on Saturday and said he would continue his efforts for a peaceful settlement of the issue.
Interestingly, senior BJP leader Kalraj Misra also visited Ayodhya on Friday and met the various seers and saints. He said the issue should be resolved at the earliest so that temple construction could begin without further delay. A spokesman of the Sunni Central Waqf Board said construction of the mosque could be undertaken only according to the tenets of Islam and the board would not give up its claim to the disputed land. “We will definitely challenge the verdict in the apex court,” the spokesman added.