‘Parties to Ayodhya dispute were trying to defend the indefensible’

They will come to terms with judgment eventually, says Kerala Governor

Arif Mohammad Khan, Kerala Governor, at the Mangaluru Lit Fest on Saturday.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Saturday said parties before the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya dispute will come to terms with the judgment gradually.

A few parties in the dispute all along knew that they were striving to defend the indefensible, Mr. Mohammed said.

In a dialogue with journalist R Jagannathan on ‘Islam in India: The Road Ahead’ at Mangaluru Lit Fest, Mr. Khan also spoke on other issues that brought him into the national limelight during the Rajiv Gandhi government: the Shah Bano case.

“I’m neither bitter nor happy that it took 30 years for the wrong that the Rajiv Gandhi government did then, before the Apex Court corrected the wrong with the triple talaq verdict,” he said.

Mr. Khan said the common man often goes by the general perception of what religion is and cited the argument that triple talaq was the will of the god.

That argument fell through when scholars all along knew that it was more of an innovation. “This was known in 1986 itself when I defended the Supreme Court verdict in the Parliament in the 55-minute speech that received kudos. The recent Supreme Court verdict has only given greater clarity to what should have happened then,” he said.

On the discussion topic, Mr. Khan said one should learn to accept differences. Truth is one to those who know how to describe it differently ( ekam sath vipra bahudha vadanthi ), he said adding it has always been the Indian tradition to accept differences and move along in life.

This facet of life is more pronounced in South India compared to the North, he said adding therefore there is more of harmony and understanding down South.