Shia board offers to give up Ayodhya land

Lucknow, November 20

Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board today proposed relinquishing its right over the disputed land in Ayodhya, and building a ‘masjid-e-aman” in Lucknow to resolve the Ram janmabhoomi-Babri masjid tangle, a move rejected by the Muslim protagonists involved in the protracted legal feud.

The board, which is the ‘mutawalli’ (caretaker) of the Babri Mosque, has proposed giving up its right over the land in Ayodhya, and a draft for resolving the issue, prepared by the Shia Waqf Board, has been submitted in the Supreme Court on November 18, its chairman Wasim Rizvi told reporters here.

Claiming that the formula for resolving the matter proposed by the Shia Waqf Board was the best, Rizvi said it is of the view that instead of Ayodhya, a ‘masjid-e-aman’ (the mosque of peace) be constructed in Lucknow’s Hussainabad area. The Board, he said, had requested the government to provide a one acre plot for it. The proposal, however, did not go down well with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).

“On whose behalf has he brought this draft proposal? He (Rizvi) does not enjoy the confidence or recognition of either the Sunni sect or the Shia sect,” AIMPLB counsel in the case and its senior member Zafaryab Jilani said.

Jilani, who is also the convener of Babri Masjid Action committee, referred to some legal shortcomings in the draft proposal. “The Shia Board has no authority over the disputed land as the Allahabad High Court, in 2010, had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area at Ayodhya among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla...the Shia board has no right over any part of the land,” he said.

Moreover, Jilani said since the Shia Waqf Board did not appeal against the high court’s decision, it meant that the ruling, which was binding on all till the Supreme Court announced its judgment, was acceptable to them.

Rizvi, however, rejected the claim of UP Sunni Central Waqf Board over the disputed site, saying that the Allahabd High court had given the land to Muslims and not to Sunni Waqf Board.

UP Sunni Central Waqf Board chairman Zafar Farooqui said any claim could be accepted or rejected only by the court. “...our involvement has been since 1961 and it is being rejected by the Shia Board now...he (Rizvi) does not have the authority to do so...” — PTI

Ram Mandir to be ready by next Diwali: Swamy 

BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy on Monday said in Jaipur that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would be ready to receive devotees by Diwali 2018. — OC