Muslim bodies reject Shia Waqf Board's proposal on Ayodhya issue

MUMBAI: Mumbai-based Muslim bodies on Thursday rejected the draft proposal filed by Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board in the Supreme Court on the Ayodhya issue saying it was an attempt to create a rift between Shia and Sunni communities. 

On Monday, the Waqf board, renouncing its right over the disputed land in Ayodhya, offered to build a 'masjid-e-aman' in Lucknow to resolve the Ram janmabhoomi-Babri masjid row. 

"After discussions with different parties we have prepared a proposal in which a Ram Temple will be built in Ayodhya and a Mosque can be built in Lucknow," said Syed Waseem Rizvi, Chairman of the Shia Waqf Board said on Monday.

He claimed that the solution "will ensure peace and brotherhood in the country." A draft for resolving the issue, prepared by the Shia Waqf Board, was submitted to the Supreme Court on November 18. 

In response, Shia Sunni Ittehad Forum (SSIF) and Awami Vikas Party (AVP) held a joint press conference on Thursday and opposed the proposal.

"Last week one of the members of the UP Shia Waqf Board filed an affidavit in Supreme Court suggesting that a Ram temple be built in Ayodhya and a mosque in Lucknow. This statement has created an unnecessary rift between Shia and Sunni communities," AVP national president Shamsherkhan Pathan told media.

Pathan said the leaders, as well as religious heads of Shias and Sunnis, have rejected the affidavit in one voice.

"Even Shia clerics are of the opinion that either the Babri Masjid be built in Ayodhya or let the Supreme Court decide the matter," he said.

Maharashtra Waqf Board member and Shia cleric Maulana Zaheer Abbas Rizvi said the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board has no 'locus standi' in filing such affidavit.

"They are making such baseless arguments only to please the BJP. We still feel that the mosque be built in Ayodhya or let the court decide the matter," he said.

In August 2017, the Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh had told the apex court that a mosque could be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the disputed site in Ayodhya.