Ayodhya dispute is over, will attend puja: litigant

Iqbal Ansari says it’s Lord Ram’s will; he will gift ‘Ram nami’ stole and Ramcharitmanas copy to PM

Ayodhya: Nirmohi Akhara mahant Dharam Das and Iqbal Ansari, the main litigants in the Babri Masjid-Ram janmabhoomi case, interact with the media after the Supreme Court's verdict on the case, in Ayodhya, Thursday, Sept 27, 2018. (PTI Photo) (PTI9_27_2018_000127B)

Iqbal Ansari, who was a litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, has decided to gift a ‘Ram nami’ stole and a copy of the Ramcharitmanas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he attends the bhoomi pujan ceremony for the Ram temple here on Wednesday.

“Yes, I have received the invitation from Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the ceremony. I will certainly attend it. The dispute is over now after the court’s verdict,” Mr. Ansari, 69, said.

“Our Prime Minister is coming. I will meet him and give him a ‘Ram nami’ stole (with Ram’s name written on it) and the

Ramcharitmanas as a present,” Mr. Ansari said.

His father Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case, died at the age of 95 in 2016 after which the son started pursuing the case in court.

Fate of Ayodhya

Mr. Ansari said, “I belong to Ayodhya. All this (temple’s construction) will change the fate of Ayodhya. We all want our children to get better opportunities.”

He added, “I respect sadhus and saints. I am happy to have received the invitation for the ceremony. I think it is Lord Ram’s will that I attend it.”

School, hospital

When asked what he would have done had the court decided the case in his favour, Mr. Ansari said he had wanted the construction of a school and a hospital on the disputed land.

“I feel the city needs development. The future of our children should be safe and secure and they should get employment. Dispute in the name of religion should end now and we should let the city witness a new beginning,” he said.

The Supreme Court had in November last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site of the Babri Masjid’s demolition in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a “prominent” place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.

The State government has allotted five acres of land in Dhannipur village in Sohaval tehsil of Ayodhya for the mosque’s construction.