Mohammad Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Ramjanmabhoomi title suit, passed away in Ayodhya. He was 95 and was suffering from heart ailment since long. Ansari was the lone survival among six original plaintiffs of Ramjanmabhoomi case fighting for the Mosque title on behalf of Sunni Central Waqf Board since 1961.

Ansari’s son Iqbal said that his father took his last breath at 5:30 am Wednesday. “His health condition was not well for the past six years. He had undergone surgery too. But, today morning, he did not complain of any health problem. He was sitting in his room after taking tea. Suddenly he collapsed. His body will be buried this evening at 5 pm in Ayodhya,” said Iqbal.

In December 2014, Hashim Ansari had announced that he want to withdraw from the case. Later, he claimed that he has given the power of attorney to his son Iqbal to contest the case. Iqbal is a Samajwadi Party worker.

Ansari was the witness when Idols of Ram Lalla appeared at the disputed Babri Masjid site at the night of December 22 in 1949. He was first to file the suit in the court of civil judge of Faizabad against the 'illegal encroachment of Masjid by Hindu Mahasabha'.

In 1961, Ansari became the plaintiff along with five others with Sunni Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh after the Board moved court filing the tittle suit for the Mosque. Other original plaintiffs were Mohammad Farooq, Shahabuddin, Maulana Nisaar, Mahmood Sahab and Hashim Ansari.

With the original petitioner Mohammad Hashim Ansari's death, an era in Ayodhya dispute has come to an end. He was a witness to 'placing of Idols in Babri Masjid in 1949', unlocking of the disputed structure for Puja of Ram Lalla as per a court's order in 1987, demolition of the Masjid in 1992 and division of the disputed land into three parts by Lucknow high court in 2010. He also became the first plaintiff in Supreme Court in 2011.

By Premji