Ayodhya dispute: Ram Madhav welcomes Centre's petition to vacate status quo on 67 acres land

New Delhi, Jan 29: BJP leader Ram Madhav welcomed the Centre's petition to seek to vacate status quo on the 67 acre land in Ayodhya acquired by the then government in 1993.

In a Facebook post Ram Madhav, said, "Government's move to seek Supreme Court to vacate status quo on the 67 acre land in Ayodhya acquired by the then government in 1993 is a much awaited welcome one.

This land was under no dispute. There were various owners of different plots. Several of them had accepted compensation from the government and surrendered their plots permanently to the government.

A major part of the acquired land, about 42 acres, belonged to Shri Ram Janmbhumi Nyas. The Nyas didn't accept any compensation and instead demanded in 1996 that the land be returned to it. It had, since then, made several appeals and attempts for the same. In early 2000s, the Supreme Court had issued an order asking for status quo to be maintained over the entire 67 acres. This 15-year old order is sought to be vacated by the government since no dispute or threat exists over this land anymore.

The main Ram Janmbhumi dispute is over a 2.7 acre plot, hearing over which is being inordinately delayed due to various reasons by the Supreme Court. In view of the strong popular sentiment attached to the Ram Mandir, the least that the government could do is to unfreeze the acquired land and hand it over to its owners, in this case the Nyas.

It doesn't in anyway affect the main case nor has it got anything to do with politics or elections."

The Centre has moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to return 67 acres of land it had acquired around the disputed land in Ayodhya to the original owners. The government had acquired 67 acres around the 2.77 acre disputed Ram Janmabhumi land. In an application, it sought permission to return the land to the original owners.