BABRI SETTLEMENT MOSQUE PROJECT TO START JAN 26 DESPITE OBJECTION FROM MUSLIM LEADERS

Mon 18 January 2021:

The mosque is coming up in the Uttar Pradesh district pursuant to the Supreme Court verdict in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case.

“At a meeting of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), it was decided that Republic Day will be celebrated with the start of the Dhannipur Mosque Project, which includes a hospital, a museum, a library, a community kitchen, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre, a publication house and a mosque, secretary and spokesperson of the trust Athar Hussain said in a statement on Sunday.

He said at 8.30 am on January 26, the national flag will be hoisted on the five-acre plot of the project, which will be followed by plantation of tree saplings by the chief trustee and the member trustees of the IICF.

Earlier, Hussain had said a mosque measuring 15,000 square feet will be built in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village. It will be of the same size as that of the Babri mosque. The shape of the mosque may be completely different from that of other mosques. It may be square-shaped like the Kaaba Sharif in Mecca, as hinted by the architect, SM Akhtar.

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board has formed the IICF, a trust, for the construction of the mosque on the five-acre plot.

The state government has allotted the plot in Dhannipur for the construction of the mosque on the directions of the Supreme Court.

“The formal start of the project should be by plantation of tree saplings on 5 acres of land. As envisaged in the project, a green area, which will have plants from all over the world — from the Amazon rainforest to areas having bushfires in Australia — and from all different geographical regions of India will be developed to create awareness on the imminent threat of climate change,” the statement said.

While the trust has now announced plans to construct a mosque, Muslim leaders in India say the decision is not acceptable to the Muslim community.

In November 2019, India’s top court ruled that the historical site of the early 16th century Babri mosque will be handed over to Hindus for construction of the Ram temple.

The Indian Supreme Court then also ruled that a “suitable plot” of land measuring 5 acres would be allotted to the government-controlled Sunni Waqf Board either by the central government or the provincial government to construct a mosque.

Last year All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Zafaryab Jilani said on Wednesday the mosque which is planned to come up in Ayodhya following last year’s Supreme Court verdict is against the Waqf Act and “illegal” under the Shariat laws.

“According to the Waqf Act, mosques or land of mosques cannot be bartered. The proposed mosque in Ayodhya violates the Act. It violates the Shariat law as the Waqf Act is based on the Shariat,” said Jilani, who was also the convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee.

Another executive member of AIMPLB SQR Ilyas said, “We have rejected the proposal to accept land for the mosque at any other place. We lost the title suit and so we don’t need a land for a mosque.”

He alleged that the Sunni Central Waqf Board was working under the pressure of the government.

The 16th century mosque was demolished on December 6 in 1992, triggering riots that left hundreds dead in the country and widening rifts between communities.

Last year on 6 December, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, those responsible for demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya were not even punished for a day, there was a need for remembering and teaching the next generation on the “injustice” meted out.

In a tweet, the Hyderabad MP said: “Remember & teach the next generation to remember: For 400+ years our #BabriMasjid stood in Ayodhya. Our ancestors prayed in its hall, broke their fasts together in its courtyard & when they died, they were buried in the adjoining graveyard. Never forget this injustice.”

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