Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) – The long-awaited verdict on the Ayodhya dispute (location in the state of Uttar Pradesh), site disputed by Hindus and Muslims, has been postponed to September 28. The dispute led to bloody clashes in 1992 and has been the subject of a lengthy legal process. Both communities claim the site which was once home to a mosque that was later destroyed by Hindu fundamentalists.
Today, the Supreme Court of India has accepted the request for postponement submitted by the independent lawyer Ramesh Chandra Tripathi. The question had already been submitted and rejected by the Court of Allahabad, where the proceedings have taken place. The lawyer resubmitted it to the Supreme Court and the two judges on the case held differing opinions. Thanks to this situation, according to the Court's established practice, it has finally preferred to grant the postponement.
The reasons presented by Tripathi are these: India is going through a difficult phase and we should not expose it once more to the danger of interreligious and social clashes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to make a final, valiant attempt at mediation and reconciliation between parties. It must be said that the lawyers of the parties, after 18 years of trial, until now have said they are closed to mediation efforts. But, Tripathi did not give up and he says he is willing to use all possible means to try to reach an agreement before the verdict is pronounced. His proposal is that the site of Ayodhya be removed from dispute and that it become a sacred place for faithful from both the religious communities.
The petition made by Tripathi, and the outcome of his appeal, has produced amazement, controversy, but also curiosity from among the public. A former bureaucrat and retired lawyer, the figure of Ramesh Chandra Tripathi has, in legal circles in India, earned a singular reputation. They call him "the wacky lawyer" or "the visionary" for the many initiatives he has taken up and many of his colleagues say that he is "not taken seriously enough." He has been successful in combining law practice with a deep spirituality that has led him to choose paths of nonviolence.
Of his biography, very little is known. He was born in Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh) 72 years ago and it seems he is the cousin of political leader Sripati Mishra, Prime Minister of Uttar Pradesh between 1982 and 1984. He has personally studied the case of Ayodhya, since 1971. Those who know him describe him as a "humble and deeply religious man." He is the author of numerous books on spiritual themes, written in the Hindi language. "Crazy man," "religious," or "visionary", Ramesh Chandra Tripathi is a man who still believes in peace. And thanks to him, for four days there is still a faint hope of a last-minute agreement on a case that is still plaguing the nation. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 24/09/2010)
