The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) hoped that the judicial process in the Ramjanmabhoomi case would be expedited but termed the Supreme Court’s direction with regard to its progress as “surprising” in its annual report, released on the day the apex court finalised a three-member panel to attempt a mediated settlement.
“In Ram-Janmabhoomi case, instead of accelerating the judicial process to end the long-drawn dispute, the Supreme Court has taken a surprising stand. That it should find no priority for this sensitive subject associated with the deep faith of Hindu society is beyond understanding. We are experiencing that Hindus are constantly being neglected,” said the report released during the RSS’ national executive under way in Gwalior.
Asked during a presser about the RSS’ immediate reaction to the SC order on mediation, joint general secretary of the organisation, Manmohan Vaidya said: “We have full faith in the judicial system and hope all the obstacles will be cleared and the temple constructed.”
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) too sounded a cautious note with VHP’s international working president, Alok Kumar saying that the organisation would take some time to react, as it was still awaiting the full order.
Sources in the Sangh Parivar said the muted reaction within the RSS-led parivar was due to “past experiences of mediation” during late Prime Ministers V.P. Singh and Chandrashekhar’s terms, “as well as several other attempts at mediation.” They also added that it seemed an effort to procrastinate.
The BJP too stuck to this line, with party general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao saying that keeping the dispute pending for long was not in anyone’s interest.
In a statement, BJP MP Dr. Subramanian Swamy, who is a petitioner in the case, said the court’s decision was welcome but claimed that the mediation panel will have to “map the problem within the parameters so far set by the apex court starting from its 1994 constitutional bench judgment and ending with the three-judge verdict of Sept 27, 2018.”
Several political parties, welcomed the order.
“INC has unequivocally maintained that the decision of the SC in the Ram Mandir case should be final & binding on all parties. We respect the decision to constitute a mediation panel,” tweeted Congress communication chief Randeep Surjewala.
In a statement, he alleged that the ruling BJP had been politicising the issue to reap electoral dividends.
‘Historic opportuinity’
Former Law Minister Salman Khursid called the move a historic opportunity.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati termed the decision “appreciable.”
In an apparent reference to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s comments on the issue in the past, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said he should act in an “unbiased” manner.
CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said the previous mediation efforts failed to yield results but this time, the Supreme Court was monitoring it and all the parties who had gone to the court were in agreement with the decision.
