Hyderabad: Voicing his concern over the inclusion of Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as one of the member to mediate the Ayodhya dispute, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi yesterday claimed that he had made controversial comments on the issue in the past.
The Hyderabad MP stated that it would been better if the Supreme Court had appointed a neutral person as Ravishankar had once said Muslims as a goodwill gesture should give up their claim over the land. Speaking to reporters he said, “Ravi Shankar had made controversial statements on November 4, 2018 on the Ayodhya issue and threatened that India may become like Syria if Muslims do not give up their claims on the disputed land.”
Owaisi, however, welcomed the court order for mediation and expected Ravi Shankar to act as a neutral person without keeping anything in mind. “When he is connected with the subject matter, when he had made his position clear on which party’s side he speaks… This is regrettable that such a person who is not neutral has been appointed by the supreme court,” he said.
He also suggested that Muslims should go to the panel and voice their views. Owaisi further tweeted that the general principle was that mediators should be neutral to the parties of dispute and unconnected to the subject matter.
Supreme Court yesterday referred the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation by a panel headed by former Supreme Court judge F M I Kallifulla.
The panel has been given eight weeks to complete the process. The panel also comprises spiritual teacher Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.
A 5-Judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi passed the order for forming a mediation committee. It is to be noted that all the three panel members are from Tamilnadu.