The stand adopted by both the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Bhartiya Janata Party vice president Vinay Katiyar has clearly frustrated the peace initiatives taken by the two sides to bring an end to the vexed Ram Janmbhoomi- Babri Masjid issue without seeking further adjudication by the Supreme Court.
Katiyar's statement in Ayodhya on Thursday, ruling out any possibility of a peaceful settlement without abdication of claim by Muslims was bound to provoke the AIMPLB, which was scheduled to hold a meeting of its national working committee two days later in Lucknow.
It was no surprise when the Muslim law board on Saturday resolved to take the Ayodhya battle to the country's apex court, close on the heels came the announcement by one of the key Hindu parties, Nirmohi Akhara, to also follow suit, thereby almost puncturing the initiatives for an out-of-court settlement.
"We have no choice but to move the Supreme Court now, since the Sunni Waqf Board's resolve to file an appeal agaist the high court verdict has been formally endorsed by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board", Nirmohi Akhara spokesman Mahant Ram Das told this scribe over the telephone from Ayodhya.
Speaking on behalf of 89year-old Akhara head Mahant Bhaskar Das, who avoids talking over the phone on account of his hearing impairment, Ram Das said, "We were apprehensive that a particular lobby among Muslims was not interested in closing the Ayodhya chapter and that is exactly what has happened, under the circumstances we are compelled to take the same course and