'If only the Muslim side': UP CM Yogi Adityanath speaks on Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that resolving the Babri Masjid issue through dialogue would have been better than the Supreme Court taking the decision. This came just after the Supreme Court announced the date of October 18 as the target to finish hearing the case.

Speaking to News18 in an interview, Adityanath said, "It would have been good had the Muslim community taken an initiative to end the issue when the Supreme Court gave time for mediation, but that did not happen. People can only move towards a solution when they think positively, but when they are stubborn, then only the Supreme Court can take a decision."

Adityanath also added that the UP government fully supports and respects the verdict of the court. “The decision is taken on the basis of facts and evidences. We are hopeful and we will follow the judgment. Earlier also, we have followed the rulings of the Supreme Court," he said.

Adityanath's reaction came hours after a five-judge apex court bench hearing the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title case on Wednesday set a target to complete the hearing. "Let us make a joint effort to conclude the same by October 18,” Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said.

Earlier this year in March, the apex court had referred the land dispute case in Ayodhya for mediation. Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

The three-member mediation panel for mediation constituted by the Apex Court was headed by former Supreme Court judge FM Kalifullah, with spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and, lawyer and mediation expert Sriram Panchu as other members. The panel was expected to finish the mediation process within eight weeks, from March 15 to May 15. The media was barred from reporting on the mediation process to maintain confidentiality.