Mohammad Hashim Ansari, who was the oldest surviving litigant in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, died on Wednesday. The 96-year-old had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of King George Medical University in Lucknow in June.

Ansari was a tailor in Ayodhya. He had been involved in the case since 1949, when members of the Akhil Bharatiya Ramayana Mahasabha spent nine days reciting and Ramacharitramanas outside the mosque and later placed idols of Ram and Sita inside it.

He was sentenced to two years jail-time in 1954, for giving the call for prayer at the masjid. He was also among seven petitioners in the Sunni Central Waqf Board’s 1961 suit for the title of Ayodhya.