UP Shia Central Waqf Board has said it will stake its claim for the five-acre land for a mosque if the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board declines to accept it. The Supreme Court, in its November 9 judgment on the title suit of Ayodhya, had upheld the claim of Ramlala Virajman on the 2.27-acre disputed land in Ayodhya and ordered that a 5-acre land be provided to Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya for construction of a mosque.
“If the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board is unwilling to accept the land for some reasons, Shia Waqf Board will stake claim on it to end the dispute forever. We may also consider constructing a hospital which will serve all sections of the society,” chairman Wasim Rizvi said here on Wednesday.
Distancing the board from the decision of All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, Rizvi said: “Shia Waqf Board is not a part of the AIMPLB and we do not support their stand of filing the review petition. We are against the review petition as the Supreme Court judgment should be the end of the dispute’’.
“The review petition will not serve the interest of anybody. It will only unnecessarily drag the dispute and may vitiate the atmosphere in the country and disturb social harmony. Muslims across the country have overwhelmingly welcomed the Supreme Court judgment,” Rizvi said.
The meeting of the board was held on Wednesday and it was attended by five out of the total seven members. He said the members were apprised of the Supreme Court’s decision on Ayodhya issue and rejection of the board’s application by Supreme Court. He said the application of the Shia Waqf Board in the case was filed in 1946 and the Supreme Court rejected it after 71 years under law of limitations as the application was time-barred.
He said that Shia Waqf Board had decided against filing a review petition against the SC judgment. The members who attended the meeting included Maulana Azim Husain, Wali Haider, Ashfaq Husain and Ashfa Zaidi.