Ayodhya panel-MPLB talks in city today

The Supreme Court-appointed Ayodhya mediation panel will hold talks with senior office-bearers of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) here on Saturday to explore the possibility of a negotiated settlement of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute.

Ahead of the crucial meeting with the panel members, the AIMPLB office-bearers held consultations with the Board’s chairman Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi at Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema here on Friday to apprise him of the progress and prepare a brief for the talks.

The AIMPLB delegation will be led by its general secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani and include secretary Zafaryab Jilani and members Mehfooz Rahmani and Qasim Rasool Ilyas.

“Since the Ayodhya dispute is not limited to the parties to the case alone, the panel has made an outreach to other religious organisations, distinguished leaders and representatives of both the religious communities to make any possible solution more acceptable and broad-based,” said an AIMPLB member requesting anonymity.

He said a similar meeting of the panel members with Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madni and some other prominent clerics has already been held in New Delhi.

“The negotiations are being held at two-levels. While the panel is holding discussions with the litigants, both Hindus and Muslims, and their representatives in Faizabad (Ayodhya), it is meeting community and religious leaders in various other cities,” said another member. The mediation panel, headed by justice (retired) FM Ibrahim Kalifulla and comprising senior advocate Sriram Panchu and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, will meet the AIMPLB delegation at VVIP Guest House here.

Formed on March 8, the committee, which has been given a two-month extension by the apex court, would hold its third round of discussions with the litigants in Faizabad (Ayodhya) on June 18 and 19 and submit its report by August 15.