In an attempt to reach an out-of-court settlement, Art of Living guru Sri Sri Ravishankar, on Friday (February 9), held a meeting with Salman Nadwi, an executive member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board in Bengaluru. After the meeting with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Salman Nadwi, said, “We held meeting so that all issues around the matter especially that of Ram Temple and Babri Masjid are discussed and we look for a solution which sends message across the nation. Our priority is to join hearts of people.” Asserting that an out-of-court settlement will be a way for both the parties to be happy, Nadwi added, “When Court’s verdict comes, it’ll be constitutional move but Court doesn’t join people’s hearts. The decision is always in favour of one and against the other. We want that when both parties come out of Court they must be happy.”

However, soon after this meeting, Zafaryab Jilani, secretary All India Muslim Personal Law Board clarified that the board had nothing to do with the meeting. Speaking to a CNN News 18, he said, “We will follow the court’s order. Attempts for an out-of-court settlement will only procrastinate the judgement.” Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy echoed a similar sentiment and denied the possibility of an out of court settlement as the party in the court is Sunni Waqf Board and not the ones whom Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is meeting. “There is no mutual way and this is a sterile exercise. I appreciate them for their efforts but this won’t solve anything. Allahabad High Court took 16 years to pass a judgement waiting for an out-of-court settlement,” he said while speaking to CNN News18. Asserting that court intervention is a must, he said this is a case of land dispute for the court and only one party will come out of the court happy after the judgement.

Sri Sri Ravishankar has made similar attempts earlier too and reached out to Muslim leaders to achieve an out-of-court settlement that suits both parties. He has also gone on record to say that an out-of-court settlement would be the best solution and that he would talk to all stakeholders in this regard. It is worth mentioning here that the Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area land at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla.