Sri Sri Ravi Shankar meets expelled AIMPLB member Nadvi

Lucknow, March 1

Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has been trying for a solution to the Ayodhya dispute through mediation, met expelled AIMPLB member Salman Nadvi here on Thursday, even as a larger meeting with Muslim scholars is planned on March 28.

“Our efforts are on...towards success and the response from all sides is very good. We will continue the efforts. We are talking of maintaining love and harmony between the two communities and for a grand Ram temple," he said after meeting Nadvi.

The 'Art of Living' founder said the effort was to bring in a consensus on the issue.

"We are meeting so many other people, that's why we are here. It is going in the right direction," Ravishankar said.

To a question on possible backlash from the Muslim community over his efforts to find out an out-of-court settlement on the vexed issue, he said, "There is a lot of goodwill and cooperation from the Muslim community."   

Art of Living spokesperson, Gautam Vig, who was present at the nearly an hour-long, told PTI that a large meeting with Muslim leaders and Ulemas will be organised in Lucknow on March 28 to hold further talks.

In February, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had expelled cleric Syed Salman Hussain Nadvi, who had expressed his view that shifting of the mosque was permissible.

During the general body meeting of AIMPLB in Hyderabad, many of the 500 participants had demanded that Nadvi be removed from the board. The board's spokesman had termed Nadvi's statement as not acceptable and one that was made in his personal capacity.

In the past year, Ravi Shankar has met over 500 leaders in Ayodhya, Bangalore, Lucknow, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and other places personally or through video conferencing. PTI