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Courts can't resolve Ayodhya issue: Puri seer

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

Swami Nischalanand, the Shankaracharya of Puri, has said that the courts cannot find a practical solution to the centuries-old Ayodhya dispute.

Speaking to rediff.com, Nishchalanand said, "I doubt if it would be possible to ensure implementation of a court verdict, no matter which way it goes."

Nishchalanand said that a court verdict would dissatisfy either one of parties involved in the Ayodhya dispute, adding that it is in the interest of 'national unity, peace and communal harmony' to work out an amicable out-of-court settlement.

Emphasising that where there is a will there's a way, he said that successive governments had failed to display the determination to resolve the tangle.

"There is no reason for it to be hanging fire in courts for more than half a century," he said.

"Most prime ministers have been playing politics in the name of Ayodhya and I firmly believe that until Ayodhya is detached from politics and power, it would continue to hang fire," the Shankaracharya said.

"What we need today is a leader of the stature of Sardar Patel who could get the Somnath temple resurrected with the consent of Muslims and without galis (abuses) or golis (bullets)," he said.

Though the Shankaracharya was all for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, he did not approve of Vishwa Hindu Parishad's ways.

Alleging that successive government had given recognition only to hardliners from both sides to act as representatives of the two communities, he was of the view that a long-lasting settlement was feasible only with the involvement of 'unbiased' and 'balanced' persons on either side.

"I do not see any possibility of an amicable settlement with the kind of people currently involved from either side," he said.

The Shankaracharya said, "The birthplace of Ram should not be allowed to turn into a centre for power and for undesirable conflict; my endeavour would be to convert it into a centre for world peace that was the essence of Ram Rajya."

The Ayodhya Issue: Complete Coverage

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