Ayodhya settlement draft to be ready by Dec 6: UP Shia Central Waqf Board
The Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board on Tuesday said it would prepare a draft proposal for a peaceful settlement of the Ayodhya dispute by December 6, the day the Babri Mosque was demolished in 1992. Board Chairman Wasim Rizvi, who has made public his opinion that a Ram temple should be built at the site, said he would visit Ayodhya this month to meet seers and mahants. “I have already discussed terms and conditions with many of them and some petitioners for the draft proposal for agreement to settle the dispute mutually,” Rizvi told PTI. “By December 6, I hope we will be able to prepare our draft proposal for a mutual agreement,” he said.
Rizvi last month met Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bangalore and apprised him of the Board’s stand on a Ram temple at the site.
The Board does not want a mosque constructed at the site. Instead, it should be constructed elsewhere in a Mus-lim-populated area, he has said. In 2010, the Allahabad High Court ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77acre area between the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla.
Rizvi, however, was of the view that partition of the disputed land in Ayodhya would not be a “practical idea” and would not be “peaceful and long lasting”. He did not divulge the contents of the draft he was preparing but said he would convene a meeting of the Waqf Board to get consent of the members before moving ahead on it and making it public.
The Shia Central Waqf Boardhas impleaded itself as a party in the Ayodhya case by submitting a 30-page affidavit to the Supreme Court on August 8 this year. It has staked claim to the Babri mosque, maintaining that it was a Shia mosque.
Rizvi, who claims to be authorised by the Board to move ahead on the issue, said the number of mosques in Ayodhya was sufficient for the Muslims residing there and there was no need for a new mosque.
In 2010, the Allahabad High Court ruled a 3-way division of the disputed 2.77-acre area between the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Lord Ram Lalla.