Ayodhya, today the oldest litigant in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri mosque dispute, Mohammad Hashim Ansari passed away.

Ansari 95; took his last breath at his residence due to heart-related ailments that he had been suffering from for many years, Ansari’s son Iqbal revealed.

Ansari had been associated with the Babri mosque dispute case since December 1949.

In 1961, Ansari along with six others became the main plaintiffs in the ‘Ayodhya title suit’ filed by the Sunni Central Waqf Board.

Five other plaintiffs were Mohammad Farooq, Shahabuddin, Maulana Nisaar, Mahmood Sahab and Hashim Ansari. He was first to file the suit in the court of civil judge of Faizabad on the matter.

In 2010, the Allahabad High Court in its majority verdict had allotted one-third of the disputed site in Ayodhya to Nirmohi Akhara.

In 2014, Ansari had called for burying the dispute and making “a fresh start.”