Fmr AMU VC says 'Mosque difficult at Ayodhya, give land to Hindus'

Days ahead of Ayodhya land dispute, Former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Vice-Chancellor Lt General (retired) Zameer Uddin Shah has said that Muslims should hand over the disputed land at Ayodhya to Hindus if SC decides so. He has said that it should be done for the sake of lasting peace in the country. "In case the Supreme Court passes judgement in favour of Muslims. They should hand over the land to their Hindu brothers for the sake of lasting peace in the country. There has to be a solution otherwise we'll go on fighting," Shah said in an interactive session organised by the Indian Muslims for Peace on Thursday. He said that he strongly supported an out-of-court settlement. "The Supreme Court should give a clear verdict and it should not be 'Panchayati' at all. Even if the court gives judgement in favour of Muslims, will it be possible to build a mosque there? It is impossible," he said.

READ: Supreme Court prepones Ayodhya case arguments deadline to October 17

Preponing the deadline by a day, the Supreme Court on Friday, set a fresh deadline in the Ayodhya land dispute as October 17. The apex court has asked all parties to complete all arguments by October 17 as it needs at least four weeks to draft a final verdict on the issue. The Ayodhya verdict is also expected prior to Nov 17, 2019, as the CJI Ranjan Gogoi is set to retire on the same date. Earlier on September 19,  the Chief Justice of India-led Supreme Court (SC)  bench had asked all parties involved to make efforts to complete the final arguments by October 18.

READ: Ayodhya deadline: CJI asks parties to finish arguments by October 18

Ayodhya hearing in SC

Meanwhile, CJI Ranjan Gogoi had announced that the daily hearings on the Ayodhya dispute will continue as per schedule. He had further stated that the terms of settlement and process of meditation would be confidential. While the SC has allowed mediation to proceed parallelly, the CJI had stated that if the mediation process reaches a settlement, then the settlement is to be placed before the apex Court. In a massive setback to the Ayodhya land dispute, CJI Gogoi on August 2, declared that the Ayodhya mediation panel headed by Justice FM Kalifulla has failed. The court then began day-to-day hearings from August 6. Earlier, the three-member Ayodhya mediation panel submitted its status report to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover, complying with the orders of the apex court earlier on July 11. The apex court then declared that mediation has failed.

READ: Ayodhya mediators seek SC nod to resume talks, amid daily hearings

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