india

Updated: Mar 09, 2019 23:46 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya was “an issue of faith and this should be respected”, adding that if the Supreme Court-ordered mediation solved the issue, he “will be the first one to welcome it”.

A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi referred the decades-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute to a three-member mediation panel on Friday, setting aside the absence of consensus between claimants on such a move in the hope of reaching an amicable settlement.

“If the SC feels the other party (Muslims) can find a solution to the dispute, it is good. But the country and world knows that this is an issue of faith and this should be respected,” the UP chief minister said after inaugurating the ‘Vikas Ke Path Par Uttar Pradesh’ conclave organised by Hindustan and Hindustan Times in Lucknow.

Referring to previous attempts at resolving the dispute, Adityanath said if the process of mediation worked, a solution would have been found by now.