The Supreme Court Friday said a 3-member panel of mediators, headed by former apex court judge FMI Kalifulla, will conduct the mediation proceedings at Faizabad. (File photo)In its first reaction to the Supreme Court’s Friday order on constituting a mediation panel to find a solution to the vexed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Saturday appeared ambivalent, saying that the organisation “neither welcomes nor opposes” the court’s move.
Responding to a question at a press conference after the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the RSS’s highest policy making body, met for the second day in Gwalior, RSS sah-sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale said, “Those demanding a Ram temple at Ram Janmabhoomi had not asked for (a mediation). The court has ordered it. We will look into it. We are neither welcoming nor opposing it… If it gives results, then that will be good.” Hosabole added that sarkaryavah Bhayyaji Joshi would “give more details” at the end of the three-day meet on Sunday.
Hosabale also said that according to the RSS, there are at least three routes to resolving the dispute: that the government build the Ram temple (by bringing in a legislation); by varta or dialogue (among the parties); or a court judgment.
At Saturday’s meeting, the RSS body presented its annual report, which criticises the Supreme Court for “delaying” the hearing in the Ram-Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute. In October last year, the apex court had deferred the hearing in the matter till January this year. “That the Supreme Court should has no priority for this sensitive subject, which is associated with national identity as well as the deep faith of Hindu society, is beyond understanding. Hindu society, national pride and identity are being continuously neglected. While we have full faith in the judicial system, we would like to emphatically say that the judgment on the dispute must be expedited and obstacles removed in constructing a Ram temple,” reads the annual report.
Over the last few months, RSS and its affiliate Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had repeatedly asked the Central government for a law or an ordinance to enable the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. Top RSS leaders including chief Mohan Bhagwat had also attended the Dharma Sabhas organised by the VHP across the country in November and December last year.
