Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would be invited to lay the foundation stone for various public facilities at the proposed mosque in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village.
As per Supreme Court’s orders, the Sunni Waqf Board set up a trust for the construction of a mosque on the 5-acre land allotted by the UP government.
“On the land tract given for construction of a mosque in Dhannipur village, a hospital, a library, a community kitchen and a research centre will also be built. These will be for the public and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be invited to lay the foundation stone of these projects,” said secretary and spokesperson of Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) Trust, Athar Hussain on Saturday.
Hussain said that the chief minister would not only participate in the programme but would also assist in the construction of these facilities.
To a question on whether Yogi Adityanath would lay the foundation stone of the mosque, the IICF head said that as per four schools of thought in Islam — Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi and Maliki — there was no provision for laying the foundation stone for a mosque.
Asked whether the mosque would be named as ‘Babri Masjid’, Hussain said, “There is no such thinking. The name is yet to be finalised. Barring Masjid-e-Nabwi (Madina in Saudi Arabia) and a few others, the names do not matter. In the eyes of Allah. ‘sajda’ done at mosques is important, everything else is meaningless,” he added.
The IICF Trust, set up by the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board to construct the mosque, is in the process of setting up an office in Lucknow and is expected to be functional in 10-12 days.
“The IICF Trust has been formed and we have applied for a PAN number. After we get it we will meet online and pass a resolution for opening a bank account. As of now, we have identified an office space and renovation is going on there. It will take 10-12 days for the work to be completed, after which the office will be functional,” Hussain said.
A member of the IICF Trust said, “Ayodhya District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha has formally handed over the possession of land for the mosque to the Trust and we have got a certified copy of the revenue record.”
In November last year, the Supreme Court paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a prominent place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party sought an apology from Yogi Adityanath on Friday for his remark that he would not attend the inauguration of the mosque to be built in Ayodhya.
After bhoomi pujan for Ram temple in Ayodhya, the chief minister had said on television that as a yogi and a Hindu, he could not go for the inauguration of a mosque.
“If you ask me as a chief minister, I have no problem with any belief, religion or community. If you ask me as a yogi, I will definitely not go because as a Hindu, I have the right to follow my way of worship and act accordingly,” he had said.
“I am neither ‘vaadi’ nor ‘prativaadi’ (neither petitioner nor respondent). That is why neither will I be invited, nor will I go. I know that I will not be getting any such invitation,” Yogi had said.
“The day they invite me, the secularism of many will be in danger. That is why I want that their secularism should not be in danger and I continue to silently work to ensure that everyone benefits from government schemes without any discrimination,” the chief minister had said.
SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary criticised Yogi Adityanath, saying that he violated the oath he took while assuming office of chief minister.
“He is the chief minister of the entire state and not only of the Hindus. This language of the chief minister lacks dignity and he should apologise to the people,” Chaudhary said.