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Thick friends, save for 67.7 acres of land

Basharat Peer in Ayodhya

One is an architect of the Ram Temple movement, and the other does not miss any opportunity to oppose it tooth and nail.

Both are fanatically committed to their respective causes and make sure that the whole world knows about it.

But what the world doesn't know about the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas president Ramchandra Paramhans (96) and Hashim Ansari (83), one of the main litigants in the case filed by the Sunni Central Board of Waqfs, is their deep-rooted friendship, which continues till date.

The legal battle for the contentious piece of land in Ayodhya began when Ramchandra Paramhans filed a suit on December 5, 1950, seeking permission to worship without hindrance the deities installed surreptitiously by some people on the night of December 22, 1949, at Ram Janambhoomi.

On January 16, 1950 one Gopal Singh Visharad filed another petition seeking the same. The civil judge of Faizabad combined both the petitions on February 1, 1951.

Not one to take a challenge lying down, Ansari filed a suit on December 16, 1961, under the banner of Sunni Central Boards of Waqfs, seeking delivery of the mosque and the removal of the idols.

Though the legal war of attrition between Ansari and Paramhans has now been going on for more than four decades, off the battlefield, they are the best of friends.

Their association dates back to the 1950s when Paramhans, a resident of Bihar, after having completed his studies in Sanskrit and Vedas, made Ayodhya his home.

"Hashim is my friend. I have known him since I came to Ayodhya years back," Paramhans told rediff.com.

And even today Paramhans meets his friend Hashim Ansari. "We have been meeting each other quite often," he says fondly.

"I do not have anti-Muslim sentiments. I do not want bloodshed," he quickly adds.

Despite Paramhans's role in the Babri Masjid demolition and his efforts to construct a Ram Temple in the disputed site, Ansari is proud of his friendship with Paramhans.

"We have been good friends. We know each other very well. He would come to my tailoring shop and discuss everything under the sun...except the mandir-masjid issue," Ansari says with a twinkle in his eyes.

The two did not stop meeting each other even after the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992.

"Till six months back, we were meeting each other. He has been busy with the puja programme since then," Ansari says.

Before Paramhans's rise as a powerful figure in the Ram Janambhoomi movement, he used to live in penury and, as the local legend goes, did not even have money to pay rickshaw fare.

When the mahant would need to make a long trip, Hashim Ansari would offer his taxi.

"He never hesitated to ask for our taxi. Our personal relations have been very good. Now he does not come here, but I can go to his residence any time," Ansari's nephew, Mohammed Aslam, who would drive Paramhans around, says.

"The hostility is because of the outsiders. The local Hindus and Muslims have been living peacefully," he says.

The Ayodhya Issue: Complete Coverage

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