All India Muslim body meets to discuss Ayodhya issue

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPL), on Sunday, held a closed door meeting of its working committee in Lucknow to deliberate on the Ayodhya issue.

Speaking to DNA, AIMPL member Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas said that around 70 per cent of AIMPL's working committee members attended the meeting. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Sunni Central Waqf Board. Ilyas, however, refused to divulge what was discussed in the meeting.

The Supreme Court on March 8 referred the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation and appointed Justice (Retd) FMI Kallifulla as chairperson of the panel of mediators. Spiritual guru and founder of Art of Living Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu, well-known for his experience in mediation, are the two other members in the panel.

Meanwhile, VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said mediation could not fetch any result in the past.

"Talks were held not only during the tenure of Rajiv Gandhi but also during the tenure of Chandra Shekhar and VP Singh. But each time, talks have failed," he said.

"Respecting the Supreme Court's decision, we are participating in the mediation and fully cooperating with the process," he said.

The Supreme Court-appointed mediation committee for the resolution of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case held its first sitting on March 13 and heard all parties, who attended the proceedings.

The apex court, while barring media to report the proceedings, had said that "utmost confidentiality" should be maintained to ensure "success of mediation".

The panel of mediators will file a progress report of the proceedings within four weeks from March 8 and the entire mediation process is to be completed within eight weeks from the day of the Supreme Court order.