The lack of clarity in the Supreme Court verdict on whether the five-acre land to Muslims would be given to Muslims for construction of a mosque in Ayodhya town or Ayodhya district has made many prominent Muslim leaders apprehensive. They fear that taking advantage of renaming of Faizabad to Ayodhya, the Yogi government may give the land to Muslims in the outer periphery of the temple town.
Local Muslims say the government should give the land within acquired 67-acre land of Ram Janmabhoomi Complex. One of the plaintiffs in this case, Haji Mahboob said that the government should allot a land near the old chainsaw machine within the acquired 67 acre complex as the Babri Masjid stood within that boundary.
In its landmark verdict on November 9, the Supreme Court had ruled that five acres of land should be handed over to the Sunni Central Waqf Board either from the acquired 67 acres or elsewhere in Ayodhya.
The order says: “The land shall be allotted either by: (a) The Central government out of the land acquired under the Ayodhya Act 1993; or (b) The state government at a suitable prominent place in Ayodhya.”
Muslims believe that as there is no clarity in the order over whether land would be given in Ayodhya town or Ayodhya district, the Yogi government may give it in some far-flung place of Ayodhya.
“Till last year, Ayodhya meant Ayodhya city, but after the Yogi government renamed Faizabad to Ayodhya, the word Ayodhya means district,” Faizan Ahmad, a Muslim scholar, said.
He said under this scenario, the government may give the land on the border of Ayodhya. “This is on record that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have always said that the mosque should be built across Saryu. The Yogi government may use the SC order to act as per the VHP wishes,” he said.
Advocate Zafaryab Jilani said that in SC order, the word Faizabad has been mentioned on several occasions. “We believe when it says Ayodhya, it means Ayodhya city,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zufar Farooqui, chairperson of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, said: “The board will meet on November 26 to discuss the construction of a mosque and other details.