Senior lawyer Zafaryab Jilani’s comments in the Supreme Court yesterday (25 September) seem to have triggered a lot of confusion, excitement and bewilderment depending on where one stands on in the Ram Temple case.

Appearing on behalf of the Muslim side, Jilani admitted that "we do not dispute the Hindus' belief that chabutra is the birthplace of Lord Ram” and the same has been in possession of Hindus since 1886. This has been misreported in the mainstream media as the Muslim side accepting Ram Chabutra as the birthplace which is simply not true. The Muslim side has merely decided not to contest this claim.

Jilani said as much when he told the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer. He said that Sunni Waqf Board does not accept that Ram Chabutra is the birthplace of Ram.

"Our stance is that it is their belief and we are not taking any steps in that regard after an observation to that effect by a District Judge (in 1886),” he submitted.

Despite such crystal clear stance taken by Jilani in the court, the media has reported exactly the opposite. This puts the media in the dock and exposes its severe lack of ability and competence to report on legal cases without resorting to sensationalism. This is nothing but fake news. Period.

In fact, the Muslim side would be more than happy to concede that the Ram Chabutra is indeed the birthplace of Bhagwan Ram. But the reason for not doing so openly may be because the Sunni Waqf Board doesn’t want to lose credibility with the Muslim masses. However, accepting chabutra as the birthplace only bolsters their case.

Look at this line map below to understand why: