'The appearance of idols of deities inside Babri was not a miracle. It was a planned and surreptitious attack to put them on the intervening night of December 22-23, 1949'
Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was elected president and Champat Rai general secretary of the Ram Temple trust at its first meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The apex court said an appropriate bench constituted by it will pass an order on January 10 for fixing the date of hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute title case.
With Ayodhya issue stuck in the quicksand of political and legal quagmire, a retired high court judge is spearheading a movement to resolve the issue peacefully and has claimed to have got the backing of over seven thousand locals -- both Hindus and Muslims.
The counsel stated that from the pillar bases, artefacts, circular shrine, intersecting brickbat walls found in excavation, an inference can be drawn that the massive structure was a temple and not any Islamic structure.
Factional feud among the orders of ascetics has come to the fore at the ongoing Maha Kumbh congregation in Allahabad with one of the "akharas" threatening to boycott the upcoming "Shahi Snan" festivals if a religious head revered by it was not allowed to take part in the ritual bathing.
The bench, which was hearing the politically sensitive case on 34th day, asked Parasaran as to whether 'it has been held that any Hindu temple, including the land has been accorded the juristic personality'.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that even if one per cent chance of mediation exists in the politically sensitive land dispute matter, it should be done.
Narendra Modi's agenda is to build a Ram mandir, Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
'Gods of different religions haven't warred, so we shouldn't either.'
The SC also said that if parties to the case want to amicably resolve the matter through mediation, they can still go ahead with it.
The issue had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was hearing the batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad high court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided in three parts.
It will be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
By pegging the exact area of the Babri Masjid site at 0.313 acres, and not the original 2.77 acres, the government hopes to be in line with the court ruling in the 1994 Ismail Faruqui case which mentions return of land to original claimants once the exact area needed for acquisition is determined, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
One of the most important cases which have political implications is the Ayodhya land dispute case.
Mir Baki was not the commander who had led the invasion on Ayodhya, Mishra said leading the bench to ask him as to what he was trying to prove by referring to these historical books.
The submissions were made during the eighth day hearing in the case before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
These images of deities on pillars of the structure are not found in mosques and found in temples, the counsel for the deity told SC.
The petitioners seeking reconsideration by a larger bench, the observations made by it in a 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam.
The submission was vehemently opposed by senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, representing deity 'Ram Lalla', who said: "This is totally unwarranted".
The Muslim parties also attacked 2003 ASI report which had found certain remains, idols and artefacts suggesting existence of a structure before Babri Masjid.
SC was requested to judicially scrutinise whether Babur dedicated the disputed structure in Ayodhya to 'Allah'
'Today, the situation in the country is bad.' 'The distance between Hindus and Muslims is increasing.' 'If an out-of-court settlement is reached, then a cordial atmosphere will prevail in the country.'
The prime minister made these remarks at a meeting of the council of ministers, while asserting the need to maintain an atmosphere of amity and harmony in the country.
In a fresh plea on Tuesday, the Centre said it had acquired 67 acres of land including the 2.77 acre disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site and sought permission of the top court to return the excess land to its original owners.
Bharti said she would 'embark on a pilgrimage to devote time for Ganga river and Lord Ram by leaving power'.
'Ayodhya will once again become Ram's city.'
Tired of living under the restive shadow of communalism, Ayodhya residents, be it Vijay Singh or Mohammad Azim, do not want any fresh political trigger for communal disharmony.
The appropriate bench will fix the schedule with regard to the hearing of appeals in the case. "We will fix the date of hearing of Ayodhya dispute case before the appropriate bench in January," the CJI said.
'It is entirely possible that there are many treasures of our history and our faith buried deep underground,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
'People should see it as a victory for India.'
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan told the bench that Justice Lalit appeared for former UP CM Kalyan Singh in 1994.
The bench took serious note of the submission of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for one of the parties, that the appeals be heard in July 2019 after completion of the next Lok Sabha polls as the atmosphere at present was not conducive.
The litigant, in review plea filed through lawyer Ejaz Maqbool, has also sought an interim stay on operation of the verdict in which it had directed the Centre that a trust be formed within three months for construction of the temple at the site.
Though Mohammed Hashim Ansari was the oldest litigant in the case and was against the Ram temple coming up at the site, he never spoke ill of his neighbours who were Hindus.
Indian politics, held captive in one way or the other by Ayodhya, may now well seek its emancipation from this issue, and the pursuit of welfare, asserts Congress leader Salman Khurshid in this excerpt from his latest book, Sunrise over Ayodhya.
Authorities said social media posts will be monitored to ensure that no attempt is made to vitiate the atmosphere.
Mohan Bhagwat said the temple would be constructed in the same grandeur as it existed before, using the "same stones" under the guidance of those who were the flag-bearers of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement for the last 25 years.
The judgment in the matter is to be pronounced by November 17, the day the CJI will retire.
Iqbal Ansari, one of the main plaintiffs who fought for the right of the community over the disputed land, says Muslims in Ayodhya won't be satisfied if the Sunni Waqf Board accepts the five acres in Dhannipur.
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