02, Dec 2017

The DNA

December 2, 2017

Benegal, 31 others move SC for peace in Ayodhya

Ayodhya Picture for representational purpose

On December 5, mere days from now, the top court will commence hearing the title dispute in the Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid case. On Friday, days before the case comes up, 32 personalities — experts in various fields — have filed a common intervention application, asking the Supreme Court not to treat this matter as a property dispute.

The petition filed by Mohammad Siddique on behalf of the NGO Citizens of Peace and Justice (CPJ) also include stalwarts like filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Aparna Sen, and Anand Patwardhan; writer and columnist Anil Dharkar; activists Teesta Setalvad, Medha Patkar, among others.

“The applicants are public-spirited citizens from various walks from life and across the length and breadth of India who feel it is critical as a commitment to the foundational value contained in this constitution, to intervene and inject an urgency and a sane voice in this dispute. Apart from the parties of this dispute, there are vast majority of Indians, voiceless and unheard who have been mute victims to the festering sores and violence caused by his dispute,” the petition read.

Filed by advocate Aparna Bhat, the petition submits, “the present Civil Appeal/s raises various issues both legal and social which would have far reaching effects on the communal fabric of the country. Thus, it is the contention of the Applicants to not look at the present Civil Appeal/s through the limited lens of a land dispute.”

The applicants thus “seek to intervene in the conviction of proposing a solution to the present problem, which would be consistent with the secular and tolerant ethos that are paramount in ensuring lasting peace in a Country like India with diverse religious sentiments.”

The petition further adds that the decision taken by the full bench of the Allahabad High Court proceeded to adjudicate the matter in 2014, on the basis of possession alone. The applicants submit that it has been the categorical finding of the High Court that none of the parties were able to conclusively prove the title of the disputed property.