Mosque can be built near Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Shia Waqf Board tells SC

In a major development, the Shia Waqf Board on Tuesday filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in which it stated that a mosque can be constructed at a place near the birth place of Lord Ram.

New Delhi: In a major development, the Shia Central Waqf Board on Tuesday filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in which it stated that a mosque can be constructed at a place near the birth place of Lord Ram in the Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh.

As per ANI, the Board stated that a mosque can be located in a Muslim dominated area at a reasonable distance from Shree Ram Lala's birth place in Ayodhya.

The Board further claimed that since Babri Masjid was a Shia Waqf property, it is the only one which is entitled to negotiate and arrive at peaceful settlement with other stakeholders in the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple dispute case.

The Board also sought time from the apex court to set up a committee for exploring an amicable settlement of the dispute.

While the BJP welcomed the move, the AIMPLB said Shia Waqf Board's affidavit holds no value in law.

According to me, this intervention by the Shia Waqf Board is god sent, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said.

This is just an appeal, this affidavit has no value in law, Zafaryab Jilani, the counsel for Babri Masjid Action Committee said on Shia Waqf Board's move on the issue.

The submission from the Board came days ahead of the scheduled hearing in the highly vexed case in the Supreme Court from August 11.

The Board had earlier claimed that Babur was a Shia from Persia, which made Babri Masjid a Shiite structure.

Uttar Pradesh’s Shia Central Waqf Board had recently decided to stake claim on the demolished Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya, adding a fresh twist to the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. 

The decision to stake claim was taken during the two-day meeting of the Shia Waqf Board which ended in Lucknow recently.

As first step towards realising its goal, the Shia Board decided to challenge a 1946 order by a Faizabad court that awarded the ownership of Mir Baki Mosque, also known as Babri Masjid, to the Sunni Central Waqf Board. 

The Board alleged that previous Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards worked in tandem and willfully lost the case. 

Chairman of the Shia Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi, claimed that Mir Baki Mosque was a property of Shia Waqf Board, which he said was the rightful owner.