NEW DELHI, 23 June 2003 — A letter sent to resolve the Ayodhya issue by the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Sri Jayendra Saraswati is “positive to an extent,” according to the recipient, All-India Muslim Personal Law Board Chairman Maulana Rabey Hasni Nadwi. But Nadwi refused to divulge the contents as “this might create hurdles for other members of the board to form an independent opinion on the issue.”

The letter was received by the AIMPLB chairman’s office here yesterday. Nadwi said he had read the two-page formula as communicated by the Kanchi seer in English.

“I have read the letter and put it in my cupboard’’, he said. The formula would be placed before the 51-member working committee of the board at its meeting likely to take place on July 6. Whether the proposal suggested by the Sankaracharya was acceptable he could not say, but praised Saraswati for his “sincere attempts.”

The Sankaracharya preferred a resolution of the issue by the religious leaders of the two communities. The board was always open to dialogue in the interest of peace and amity and to avoid bitterness between the two communities, he said.

However, Nadwi said he saw no scope for a dialogue with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which was “responsible for the demolition” of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.

Meanwhile, Saraswati who has been holding talks with Muslim religious leaders and the federal government said yesterday a solution to the temple-mosque dispute would be thrashed out by early July.

Saraswati told reporters after a meeting with India’s Defense Minister George Fernandes and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh that he was certain the row would be defused.

“I am very sure a solution will be found by July 6,” he told reporters after his meeting at his headquarters in Kancheepuram, 70 km from Madras, capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

“The Muslim Personal Law Board will meet on July 6 to discuss my proposal. They are in constant touch with me,” he added.

An outcome to the talks would be acceptable to a majority of both Hindus and Muslims, he said. He also refused to divulge any details regarding the written proposal he had sent to the Muslim board.

The Hindu religious leader met last month with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and main opposition Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi to discuss the proposal.

Hindu activists tore down the Babri Mosque in 1992. Some 2,000 people were killed in nationwide Hindu-Muslim clashes that followed the destruction.