Ram Mandir dispute: BJP hails SC advice for out-of-court settlement

However, Wakf board ruled out the settlement, stating that the case has been in the court for long

The BJP on Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court's advice for an amicable settlement of the Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that a solution through friendly negotiations was the best way to solve the long-pending dispute.

"This is a very good step by the apex court. Even the BJP has been encouraging solving the issue through negotiations. It is a very good step to solve the issue by sitting together and negotiating," said P P Chaudhary, Minister of State for Law and Justice and a senior BJP leader.

The apex court on Tuesday said that the amicable settlement of the Ayodhya dispute was a better course than insistence on judicial pronouncement.

However, another senior BJP leader, Subramanian Swamy, said that the Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya should be used only for constructing the Ram temple.

"Masjid can be built anywhere, Namaz can be read anywhere... it can be read on the street. The Ram Janmabhoomi is for the Ram Mandir and it should be used for the Ram temple only," said Swamy.

Swamy is also a petitioner who has sought that the Supreme Court should constitute a bench to hear a batch of petitions challenging a 2010 Allahabad High Court order.

The 2010 order said that there should be a partition of the Ayodhya land between the parties to the dispute.

However, the Wakf board ruled out the out-of-court settlement, stating that the case has been in the court for long.

"An amicable solution is impossible. This has to be dealt in the court itself. After all, it is long pending in the court," said Zafaryab Jilani, Convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee.