Ayodhya and the politics around the temple town has never been an emotive issue for the state of Tamil Nadu, but the state is going to put an indelible mark on the resolution of the vexed issue.
All the mediators the Supreme Court appointed to find an amicable way to settle the Ayodhya dispute are from the southern most state of India.
Today, Supreme Court apponted a three-member mediators panel to mediate between the opposing groups of Ayodhya dispute and pave the way for the permanet settlement of the issue.
The panel is headed by former Supreme Court Judge FM Ibrahim Kalifullah. The other members of the committe are Sri Sri Ravishankar of Art of Living Foundation, and noted advocate Sriram Panchu.
While Kalifullah hails fom Karaikudi in Southern Tamil Nadu, Sri Sri Ravishankar is from Papanasam near Thanjavur in the Cauvery Delta region.
The third member, Panchu is from Chennai.
Jusitce Kalifullah was a Judge in Supreme Court between 2012 and 2016. He was also Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir prior to that.
Ravim Shanker, who is internationally acclaimed spiritural leader and known for his Art of Living Foundation, has been advocating a negotiated settlement for the Ayodhya issue.
Senior advocate Punchu is a well-know mediator. He set up India’s first court-annexed mediaion centre in 2005, and has been instrumental in making mediation a part of India’s legal system.
He is a certified mediator on the panel of Singapore International Mediation Centre. Mediating between opposing parties in India is not new for Punchu. Earlier he was appointed by the SC to mediate a 500 square kilometre dispute between the states of Assma and Nagaland.
The emotive issue had never been resonated much in Tamil Nadu unlike in the northern part of India.