Darul Uloom not willing to meet Ravishankar

The Darul Uloom at Deoband has rejected a proposal to meet Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar to find a solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

According to reports, the Islamic seminary was contacted by the Prime Minister's Office to find out if it supported the efforts by Ravishankar to resolve the dispute through negotiations.

But the seminary, located in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, made it clear that it was with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on this issue.

A senior cleric of the seminary said that no purpose would be solved by meeting Ravishankar as the stand of the seminary on the Ayodhya issue was the same as that of the AIMPLB.

"A meeting with Ravishankar at this juncture may send a wrong message and create unnecessary confusion," the cleric added.

The AIMPLB has already made it clear that it would wait for the Supreme Court verdict, where the matter was currently pending, rather than trying to find an out of court settlement.

Though Ravishankar had met AIMPLB member and senior Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali in Lucknow on Friday, there was no agreement on the issue.

Earlier, Ravishankar was snubbed by both Hindu and Muslim parties to the dispute during his visit to Ayodhya.

In fact, none of the representatives of the warring sides met Ravishankar.

The Art of Living founder admitted that it was a very complex issue and that it would take time to resolve the matter.

Ravishankar had also said that he did not have any proposal for resolving the issue.