The status of the land in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood till December 6, 1992, cannot be “altered, changed or transferred in any manner,” the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) stated on Saturday, rejecting opinions by some prominent Muslims in favour of giving up claim to the disputed site.
The AIMPLB said the status of the “land dedicated to the Masjid” cannot be changed. “The law of Shariat does not permit it,” the Board said here, after a meeting of its working committee.
The meeting was held at the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema, a prominent seminary in Lucknow, and chaired by Maulana Syed Mohammad Rabey Hasan Nadwi.
“This submission of Muslims is based on historical facts and evidences that the Babri Masjid was constructed without demolishing any mandir (temple) or any other place of worship,” the AIMPB said.
For national unity
The AIMPLB’s statement comes after a few prominent Muslims — led by former Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor, Gen.(retd) Zameer Uddin Shah — advocated that the minority community give up its claim on the disputed site as a goodwill gesture.
This was necessary for lasting peace and unity of the country, said the group under the banner of “Indian Muslims for Peace”.
“In my opinion, this will benefit everyone. Even if Muslims win, will they be able to construct a mosque there? It is not possible,” Gen. Shah said earlier this week at a press conference.
“So if they [Muslim side] win, they should state in clear terms that ‘we are giving this land to [our] Hindu brothers’,” he had added.
The AIMPLB, however, argued that since legal proceedings regarding the case were in the final stage in the Supreme Court and that all previous efforts for an out-of-court settlement had failed to produce results, “there is no possibility of mediation or reconciliation”.
The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute “is a case test for the basic values of secularism enshrined in our Constitution,” the Board said, adding that it was being watched across the country as well as internationally.
The AIMPLB expressed optimism that the apex court would a pronounce a judgment in favour of the “Muslim cause” based on “right, fair play and justice”.
Against UCC
At the meeting, the Board also passed a resolution against the Uniform Civil Code, calling it “a threat” to the diversity of the country, which boasts of multi-cultural and multi-religious people, with each group having the “constitutional rights to maintain its identity”.
