Ayodhya: Sunni Waqf Board clarifies that it does not accept Ram Chabutra as birth place of Ram

In the Ayodhya case before the Supreme Court, Senior Advocate Zafaryeb Jilani today clarified that the Sunni Waqf Board does not accept Ram Chabutra as the spot where Lord Ram was born..“We do not believe that Ram Chabutra is the birth place. It is their (Hindus) belief and we have not taken any steps in that regard after an observation to that effect by a District Judge”, said Jilani..Various media outlets had reported that Sunni Waqf Board had conceded yesterday that it accepts Ram Chabutra as the exact spot where Lord Ram was born..However, it has now been made clear that the stance of the Sunni Waqf Board is that Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya, though the exact spot is not the disputed site..The Ayodhya case is being heard by a Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer..Last week, the Supreme Court made it clear that there is no bar on parties attempting to settle the dispute in the Ayodhya case through mediation..The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi passed an order to that effect, stating that the parties can settle the dispute through means including mediation and place the result of the same before the Court..This would mean that mediation can proceed simultaneously if the parties so desire, notwithstanding the fact that the hearing in the case is progressing before the Supreme Court..Hearings had commenced on August 6, with arguments being made on behalf of the Nirmohi Akhara. In the following hearings, submissions were also made on behalf of the deity Ram Lalla and the Ram Janmabhoomi Punaruddhar Samiti. After arguments on behalf of the Hindu parties to the Ayodhya dispute concluded, arguments have commenced on behalf of the Muslim parties to the case..In March this year, the Bench referred the Ayodhya dispute to a mediation panel comprising former Supreme Court judge Justice FMI Kalifulla, spiritualist Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu..However, after the mediation route failed to deliver any result, the Court passed an order intimating that it would hear the case on a day-to-day basis.