Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has offered to mediate in the Ayodhya dispute, met various people on Thursday and said he had received “very good and positive signs” from both communities, though the stakeholders in the case were less hopeful.
“I am not here to give a solution to this issue ... I want people to come together and find a solution ... and I found very positive response from both communities...,” he told presspersons.
“I would like to appeal to you to please have some patience ... give some time ... two or three months let people of both communities think...,” he said.
Several stakeholders gave a tepid and sceptical response to his offer.
Mahant Gyan Das, the chief priest of Hanumangarhi temple, refused to meet Sri Ravi Shankar on Thursday alleging he was “fooling the public in the name of negotiations”.
Another priest, Mahant Raju Das, said Sri Ravi Shankar was seeking to take credit as the Ayodhya issue was near a peaceful solution. Triloki Nath Pandey, senior VHP leader and litigant in the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya issue, alleged that Sri Ravi Shankar met those who were not even parties in the case.
Iqbal Ansari (son of late Hashim Ansari, another litigant) dismissed the visit as a “political stunt”.
However, Ravi Shankar reacted saying, “Some people are opposing my move as they have no hope that this dispute may be solved through negotiated settlement. But there are a lot of people who believe that a peaceful solution of the Ayodhya issue may came only through talks.”
“If the court gives any verdict and if any one community feels left out... and even if the mandir or whatever is built there... after 50 or 100 years the problem might come back again... so the best thing is these two communities come together and then this problem will be resolved,” he said.
Sri Ravi Shankar met Mahant Dinendra Das of Nirmohi Akhara and Muslim intellectuals in Faizabad city.
