Muslim parties in the Ayodhya title dispute case have expressed displeasure over the location of the five-acre land plot provided by the Uttar Pradesh government to build a mosque, Hindustan Times reported. The land, allotted in Dhannipur village in district’s Sohawal tehsil, is located on the Lucknow highway, around 18 km from Ayodhya city.
“The land is too far from Ayodhya,” said Haji Mehboob, one of the litigants in the case. “No Muslim will go there to offer namaz. The land should be in Ayodhya to make it more convenient for us to offer prayers.”
A member of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, Afaq Ahmad Khan, said the central government should reconsider its decision to give land in Dhannipur for the mosque. Another litigant, Iqbal Ansari, said the land should have been provided in Ayodhya city. “It is now for the Sunni Central Waqf Board to decide about the Centre’s offer [of land],” he said.
Muslim organisations also criticised the state government’s land allocation for the mosque. All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Zafaryab Jilani said this was in violation of the Supreme Court judgement in the Ismail Farooqui case, The Indian Express reported. “Neither is the land at a prominent place nor is it in Ayodhya, which the actual case relates to,” he said.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board will hold a meeting on February 24 to decide whether they will accept the plot in Dhannipur village, according to News18. The AIMPLMB on Wednesday said the Sunni Waqf Board does not represent Muslims. “Sunni Waqf board is not representative of [the] entire Muslim community,” said the personal law board’s Senior Executive Member Maulana Yasin Usmani. “If it takes land, it should not be considered decision of Muslims of the country.”
A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had passed the verdict on November 9. The court also asked the Centre to set up a trust within three months to oversee the construction of a Ram temple at the site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of the trust and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said it will will have one Dalit trustee.
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