No formula for Ayodhya: Ravi Shankar

Lucknow: Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said on Thursday that he did not have any formula to resolve the Ayodhya dispute but he wanted to work towards resolving the issue.

Sri Sri Ravi shankar who reached Ayodhya on Thursday, met a number of saints and seers. He told reporters, “It is a long-drawn process and it will take a couple of months before anything concrete comes up. The signs are, however, very positive. People want to come out of this situation”. He further said, “I have not come with an agenda, I will hear everybody. We need to see both communities can come together with friendship. While dialogue is the only way forward, it is too early to come to any conclusion. I request everyone to give it some time”.

Meanwhile, in a shocking development, one of the stakeholders in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi case has alleged in an interview to a news channel that there is a back-channel deal to pay up to Rs 20 crore to the Sunni Central Waqf Board to get them to relinquish their claim to the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The chief of Nirmohi Akhada — one of the three parties to the decades-old Ayodhya case currently being heard by the Supreme Court —  Mahant Dinendra Das has alleged that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will mediate with the Sunni board about it.

The Sunni Waqf Board counsel, Zafaryab Jilani, has vehemently denied the allegation. ‘We have not spoken to anyone and neither will we negotiate on the matter. We will wait for the court verdict. All these statements are merely designed to mislead the people but Muslims are not willing to give up their claim”, he said.

Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali also rubbished allegations of money changing hands in the matter. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also met Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chief trustee of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das later said that a solution to the dispute was a ‘distant dream’.