Shia Board chief scripts, produces film on Ram temple

LUCKNOW: : After batting for construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, UP Shia Waqf Board chairman Syed Waseem Rizvi has now scripted and produced a move on the vexed issue slated for release by December-end.

“Everyone is familiar with my stand on the issue. I have tried to broker an out-of-court settlement by suggesting that a Ram temple be built in Ayodhya at the disputed site. In lieu, a mosque ‘Masjid-e-Aman’ should be constructed in Lucknow,” said Rizvi at the release of the trailer and poster of his film “Ram Janmabhoomi” here on Monday. The poster depicts the picture of the 15th century ‘Babri-Mosque’ in Ayodhya that was razed on December 6, 1992.

The film’s announcement comes at a time when the RSS and BJP are pulling out all stops to mobilise people for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) Dharma Sabha, a gathering of ‘sants’, to be held in Ayodhya on November 25. “We have shot the movie on a shoe-string budget (Rs 30-35 lakh) amidst great hardships in Ayodhya and Faizabad. We owe money to most of the actors, technicians, and artistes, who agreed to work on a token amount, and will pay them back when the movie is released,” said the Shia Board chairman.

Apart from chronicling the history of the age-old dispute, the role of politicians and radical clerics in fanning the divide between Hindus and Muslims, the two-and-a-half-hour-long movie also highlights another controversial practice Halala (temporary marriage) among Muslims. Rizvi has not only written and produced the movie, but also played a cameo which is likely to raise many eyebrows of its political slant and oblique references to certain politicians.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT COMES AT A TIME WHEN THE RSS AND BJP ARE PULLING OUT ALL STOPS TO MOBILISE PEOPLE FOR THE VHP DHARMA SABHA ON NOV 25