The Supreme Court had referred the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case in Ayodhya for mediation on Friday. The three-member mediation panel will be headed by former Supreme Court judge FM Kalifullah, with spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and, lawyer and mediation expert Sriram Panchu as other members.

The panel is to start in a week from March 15 and go on till May 15. The Panel will have to submit the first status report within four weeks of the mediation which will be on May 15th. The mediation process will be held in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad district where the disputed site is located. The district was recently renamed as Ayodhya.

The media has been barred from reporting on the mediation process to maintain confidentiality.

Reacting to this development Asaduddin Owaisi, President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and a three-time Member of Parliament (MP), had objections to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar being a part of the panel.

Owaisi remarked that while he welcomed the verdict of mediation, the people of the panel have to be unbiased and unattached to any of the parties of the dispute. This is not the case with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as he has shown his animosity towards Muslims by stating that India will turn into a Syria if the land is not given to the Hindus.

Here’s Asaduddin’s tweet showing his disapproval Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The general principle is that mediators should be neutral to the parties of dispute, and should be unconnected to the subject matter

Most High Court Civil Procedure Mediation rules disqualify mediators who are connected to the subject-matter or parties
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) March 8, 2019

Sri Sri had threatened that India would become like Syria if Ram Mandir isn’t built. He’s asked Muslims to give up their legal claim over title of #BabriMasjid. How would he be a neutral mediator? #AyodhyaMediation pic.twitter.com/vxDdyLEjWT
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) March 8, 2019