Representatives of the Shia community on Wednesday flatly rejected Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief Ashok Singhal's offer to hold talks on the Ayodhya issue.Singhal had said that since the Allahabad high court had dismissed the Sunni Waqf Board's suit staking claim to the disputed Ramjanma bhoomi- Babri Masjid land in Ayodhya, the VHP would now hold talks with Shia organisations. "The VHP is now trying to incite a confrontation between Shias and Sunnis," said a Shia cleric.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh issued this statement on Thursday evening following the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court's verdict on the Ayodhya title suit case:
Satisfied with the Supreme Court's nod to the Allahabad high court to pronounce its judgement in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri masjid case, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has reiterated its appeal to Hindus and Muslims to abide by the court judgment and not to publicly display their emotions
The Congress hailed the Supreme Court order staying by a week the Ram Janambhoomi- Babri Masjid title suit verdict, saying the party has always given first priority to a solution arrived through mutual agreement.
We can wait with bated breaths for the Allahabad High Court verdict slated for September 24 but that is not going to put to rest this controversy, says Vivek Gumaste
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the plea of a non-governmental organisation to intervene in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit.
"The government should table the report at the earliest along with ATR. The Commission has submitted the report after a delay (about 17 years) and the government should not delay it any further," Singh told media persons outside Parliament.
The latest petitions have been filed by Akhil Bhartiya Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Samiti and one Farooq Ahmed challenging the high court judgement, which the apex court had dubbed as "strange" as none of the parties had demanded partition of the land.
In an obvious bid to win back his Muslim supporters, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday publicly tendered an apology for his political liaisons with former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh.Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when the Babri Masjid was demolished by angry karsevaks on December 6, 1992.Without referring to Kalyan directly, Mulayam issued a personally signed press statement saying, "I must confess that it was a blunder."
Justice N Santosh Hegde, a representative of the civil society in the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill, on Saturday said that there is nothing wrong in the presence of Sangh Parivar leader Sadhvi Ritambhara on the dais where Baba Ramdev is on a hunger strike against black money. When informed that Ramdev had assured Anna Hazare on Friday that no communal element will be allowed to join his satyagraha, Hegde said, "Suppose the Muslim League comes out on Sunday?"
They might have been fighting in the courts for ages to stake their respective claims over the much-debated Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya, but the rivals have heartily welcomed the view taken by the apex court on the issue.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday extended its order for maintaining status quo at the disputed Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya till August 31.The earlier status quo order was set to expire on May 31.While a special appeal against the high court verdict on the issue is pending before the Supreme Court, an application was moved by the Faizabad commissioner, seeking an extension of the status quo before the special high court bench.
"Kalyan Singh is making a very late beginning and if he was so apologetic he should have done it exactly 14 years ago," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.
No one wants to curb the enthusiasm being seen among the people, but at the same time officials feel nothing should be left to chance, as the flood of humanity thronging the temple area poses problems for security personnel.
Most parts of Hyderabad remained shut on Saturday after several Muslim organisations, including the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, called for a strike to mark the 16th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Shops remained closed and roads wore a deserted look in the old city, where thousands of policemen, along with two companies of the Rapid Action Force, maintained a tight vigil. All educational institutions, business establishments remained shut.
Airports in Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai were on Wednesday night put on high security alert in the wake of intelligence inputs that terrorists of Pakistan or Afghanistan origin may strike these installations by this weekend ahead of the anniversary of demolition of Babri Masjid.
The state government has allotted the five-acre plot in Ayodhya's Dhannipur for the construction of the mosque on the directive of the apex court.
The Liberhan Commission report on the demolition of Babri Masjid on Wednesday generated heat in the Rajya Sabha with the Congress and the Samajwadi Party squarely blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for the demolition of the historic structure, while the main opposition debunked the report.
Police in Ahmedabad are on high alert and have taken extensive security measures following intelligence reports stating that terrorist may target the city on December 6, which marks the 17th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition.
The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha has decided to move the Supreme Court, challenging the Allahabad high court verdict on the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title suits, contending that the entire disputed site should be allotted to Hindus. The Mahasabha will submit that the high court had erred in directing that 2.77 acres of disputed land be divided into three parts among Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati sees a Congress-Bhartiya Janata Party conspiracy behind what she termed as a "systematic leakage" of the Liberhan Commission report.
The government on Tuesday said it has accepted all the recommendations made by the Liberhan Commission in the backdrop of the Babri Masjid demolition and 'positive action' would be taken on them.
The Liberhan Commission that probed the Babri Masjid demolition on Tuesday came down heavily on mixing politics and religion and has recommended a law providing for exemplary punishment for such misuse to acquire political power.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice during Question Hour over separate issues, including the Liberhan Report and the alleged multi-crore scam involving former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda.
Bhartiya Janata Party leader Vinay Katiyar has "threatened to expose Justice Liberhan's intent" behind party leaders Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani for their alleged involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition. "Just wait for a while and see what I reveal about Justice Liberhan as soon as his report is tabled in the parliament", Katlyar told rediff.com on Monday.
The Union Cabinet has been summoned for an unscheduled meeting Tuesday morning before the start of Parliament's day's sitting, strengthening speculation that the government may be pushed to tabling the Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid demolition.
'If the judgment succeeds in nudging Hindus and Muslims to find a compromise ensuring peace, who am I to question it?'
The Hindu Mahasabha, one of the parties in the Ayodhya title suits, has filed an objection relating to the judgement of the Allahabad high court on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
Angry BJP and other opposition members stormed the well disrupting proceedings for the 17th working day to press for a JPC to go into allocation of radio-waves -- a demand consistently rejected by government.
It's intriguing that the prime minister now wants his American partner to help protect the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. That's conceding to the Americans a pre-eminence India has always contested, resented and feared, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The flyover was built over a period of about three years at a cost of Rs 600 crore.
"We are not ready to part with any bit of land in or around the disputed Ayodhya site, where we wish to erect a grand temple to mark the birthplace of Lord Ram", VHP supremo Ashok Singhal told a press conference in Lucknow on Wednesday afternoon.
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has said the verdict of the Allahabad High Court in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit was the best possible judgment under the circumstances.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board Abdul Raheem Qureshi and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi voice their concerns about the Ayodhya verdict.
Hashim Ansari, who was the first Muslim claimant to the 16th century Babri Masjid 61 years ago, took everybody by surprise on Sunday when he took the first step to draw the final curtain on the Ayodhya issue.
'India has moved on in other ways, but the common man in the streets still has a lot of links attached to religion. And till such a time there is a separation of religion from politics we will not be able to move on,' feels former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole.
The Congress on Friday favoured a negotiated settlement to the Ayodhya issue saying all right thinking people should work for a compromise within the next three months in wake of the Allahabad high court verdict.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to stay the Allahabad High Court final judgement on the Babri Masjid title suit, rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa spoke to Jafaryab Jilani, the lawyer who is representing the Muslim organistaions in this litigation.
Here's what your favourite celebrities have been up to:
As the country's largest opposition political party with strong roots among the majority community, the BJP has a special stake in ensuring communal peace and harmony.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances