The Supreme Court’s suggestion in March for a consensual decision to end the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute involving all parties has set off some churn in the decades-old dispute, with a proposal to build an inter-faith Vishwadharmi Shriram Manavata Bhavan in Ayodhya.
The Bhavan is proposed to be built on the disused 67-acre plot of land adjacent to the makeshift temple at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.
The proposal will be discussed at a conference to be held in New Delhi on Monday (Gandhi Jayanti), under the aegis of the World Peace Centre at Alandi in Maharashtra, headed by Vishwanath Karad (who has filed an intervention petition in the Ram Janmabhoomi case). Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, former MP and ex-chair of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas; social activist Swami Agnivesh; Chancellor of Nalanda University Vijay Bhatkar; and former Union Minister Arif Mohammad Khan are also expected to participate in the meeting.
Scale model
“The proposal will also be put before the Dharma Sansad of sants to be held in Udupi between October 24 and November 16,” Mahant Vedanti told The Hindu .
A scale model of the proposed inter-faith Bhavan will be on display at the Constitution Club in Delhi for public viewing during the conference.
Mahant Vedanti admitted that the Sunni Waqf Board was not on board, but according to him, the Shia Waqf Board had a greater claim on the land. “History is clear that Babar never visited Ayodhya and he had asked Mir Baqi to destroy the temple. Mir Baqi was a Shia and his grave is at Shah Nawa village in Faizabad,” he said.
The Shia Waqf Board had, in April, filed a 30-page affidavit saying that they were amenable to the construction of a mosque at a distance from the disputed site.
Equal split
“Under this proposal, five acres will be given to each building of eight religions of the 67 acres acquired by the government,” said Mahant Vedanti, adding that this would make Ayodhya a pilgrimage for all religions, including Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Zorashtrianism, Judaism and Jainism. He also said that with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh, chances of a solution to the issue appeared brighter than ever before.
“At a time when the world is dealing with global terrorism, we need to come up with this kind of solution,” said Mahant Vedanti, who had also astounded those around him by taking full responsibility for the destruction of the Masjid structure in 1992.
Taking responsibility
“I told the High Court, very clearly, that I was responsible for that demolition and that he [the judge] should let L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and others go,” he told The Hindu .
Dr. Karad, who also spoke to The Hindu , said an inter-religious dialogue was the only way forward.
“This is the reason why I filed an intervention petition in the Supreme Court,” he said.
