Prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawab has dismissed as a statement made under duress the Shia Waqf Board’s affidavit to the Supreme Court claiming ownership of the disputed site where the Babri Masjid stood and its offer to “build a mosque a little distance away from the disputed site”.
He said the statement of Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, vice-president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, that Muslims should agree to the construction of a Ram temple on the disputed site was meant to curry favour with the government.
CBI probe
The Maulana Kalbe Jawad, who heads the Anjuman-e-Haidari, said: “The current government in Uttar Pradesh has recommended a CBI probe into some scams in the working of the Shia Waqf Board, and we feel [Board chairman] Waseem Rizvi’s affidavit is related to it.” The State government has recommended a probe into allegations of misappropriation on a report from a member of the Central Waqf Board council.
“As for the Maulana Kalbe Sadiq’s speech, it is his personal opinion, perhaps aimed at some influence he may want to exert on the government,” he said. He said the Board’s affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming to be a party to the Babri Masjid case had come 70 years too late. A court in Fizabad in 1946 ruled in favour of the Sunni Waqf Board in the claim to the land and the Shia Board had not appealed against the verdict. “Even as the Shia Waqf Board chairman, you are only the caretaker of the property; you cannot give it away. A Masjid belongs to Allah, it is no one’s personal property,” the Maulana Kalbe Jawad said. “ He [Waseem Rizvi] is surrounded by the CBI because of what he did, and he is trying to get out of the situation.”
He said he was awaiting the SC’s verdict and was not supportive of this affidavit.
