How Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's image was sullied as a negotiator in the Ram Temple dispute
Three key Muslim litigants contesting the Ayodhya case, on Saturday (February 17), resolved to declare that they were not prepared to go for any out-of-court settlement on the long-pending Ram Mandir issue that comes for its final hearing before the Supreme Court in mid-March.
A meeting of these three litigants, Iqbal Ansari, Haji Mehboob and Mohammad Umar was held in Ayodhya on Saturday following which they announced their unanimous decision. Iqbal Ansari, who is the son of deceased Hashim Ansari, who was the oldest litigant in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, told mediapersons in Ayodhya, "We will abide by whatever the judgement of the highest court of the land."
Ruling out any possibility of gifting or transferring the mosque land to anybody through any negotiation the group sought to clarify that they were prepared to part with "Ram Chabootra", the space right outside the now razed Babri Masjid, where Hindus used to offer prayers since 1885. "We have no objection if our Hindu brethren choose to build a temple on 'Ram Chabootra' where they used to offer prayers to Ram Lalla all the way since 1885 until the demolition of the mosque on December 6, 1992," Haji Mehboob declared after the meeting.
A press release issued jointly by these litigants claimed that the meeting was attended by the representatives of Barelvi, Deobandi and Shia sects of the Muslim community.
Significantly, ever since the Supreme Court urged all parties embroiled in the decades-old legal battle to explore the possibility of an out-of-court settlement on the vexed issue, various groups have sprung up to play the negotiator. And interestingly, most of these self-styled and self-proclaimed negotiators have nothing whatsoever to do with the case that is all set to go for its final hearing before the highest court of the land.
That naturally gives rise to several questions - what locus standi would anyone, who is not a party to the case, have to strike an out-of-court settlement? Would it make any legal sense if a negotiated settlement was thrashed out between those who had nothing to do with the case until the high court gave its split verdict that stands challenged before the apex court?
Surprisingly, vast sections of the media chose to take anybody and everybody at face value, without even caring to ascertain the credentials of such negotiators. What happened in the bargain was that the least credible got huge prominence on TV channels as well as in print media.
What propelled different individuals and groups to offer their services for bringing about an out-of-court settlement, was the potential of the Ayodhya temple to get them many brownie points. Among the most prominent of these was the Bengaluru-based godman Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, widely known for his Art of Living Foundation.
Even if Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's intentions were beyond doubt, the kind of people he got involved with to carry out his new-found mission, did not go down well with his well-earned reputation. And some of them found it convenient to use his good offices for grinding their own axe. Topping the list was Amar Nath Mishra, a Lucknow-based small-time Congressman, who chose to make it big by taking on the role of a self-styled Ayodhya negotiator.
What gave him the handle to try out his machinations was his access to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who, out of innocence agreed to visit his home, when he had come to Lucknow to initiate an out-of-court dialogue. Posing himself as some kind of a representative of Sri Sri, Mishra managed to fix a meeting between Sri Sri and some members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board at Art of Living headquarters in Benguluru.
Far from seeking permission, Maulana Nadwi did not even care to discuss the issue with his colleagues in the Muslim Personal Law Board before making an announcement before the media that made him an overnight hero of sorts. No wonder, he received worldwide attention for declaring that he was ready to abdicate the Muslim claim to the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site. "Let the Ram temple be built there and we will build a magnificent mosque somewhere else together with an Islamic University", Nadwi declared.
However, taking strong exception to Nadwi's announcements, the 400-odd member board decided to sack him from the prized position of the board's executive body.
Shortly thereafter, Amar Nath Mishra, who was busy proclaiming himself as a key negotiator, chose to put his foot in the mouth by making wild accusations against Nadwi. "Maulana Salman Nadwi asked me to get him Rs 5,000 crore, 200 acres of land and a Rajya Sabha membership in exchange of the disputed Ayodhya land," Mishra alleged on a national TV channel.
Mishra could neither furnish any proof of the charge, nor could he explain how and why Nadwi would assume that someone like Mishra was in any position to get even a fraction of what was purported to have been demanded by the cleric. After all, Mishra neither holds any position in the Ayodhya-based Ram Janmbhoomi Nyas (Trust) headed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, a prominent figure in the Ayodhya movement, nor was he an office-bearer in any of the Hindu organisations that were parties in the court battle. All he had done very smartly was to form his own Ayodhya Sadbhavna Samiti and declare himself president of the organisation. In addition, he managed to become general secretary of yet another meaningless Ramjanmabhoomi Mandir Nirman Nyas headed by a little-known Ayodhya-based sadhu Mahant Janmay Jai Sharan.
Strangely, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar did not even care to find out Mishra's credentials and allowed him to be seen in his company, which actually gave him a sudden high-profile, which he exploited to project himself as some significant player in the Ayodhya affair.
It was rather late in the day when Mishra's misdoings were exposed, and he lost whatever insignificant position he held in a worthless trust - the type of which are dime a dozen in Ayodhya. However, in the bargain, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar did lose some credibility while Salman Nadwi's role gave a handle to the right wing lobby to sully the image of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.