Shias offer donation to build Ram temple

Shia Hussaini Tigers, an organisation of the Shia youth having a sizeable following among the Shias in the country, said it was ready to provide Rs 15 lakh for taking up the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Organisation President Shamil Shamsi said here on Saturday that he would soon meet the representatives of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the main plaintiffs in the dispute, and try to persuade them not to pursue the matter any further.

Shamsi lashed out at Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for his statement on the High Court verdict saying such remarks would only vitiate the atmosphere.
Mulayam on Friday criticised the judgment and said the Muslims felt cheated by the verdict. He said the verdict   was based on faith and belief rather than on hard facts and evidence.

“It is really shameful that some politicians and leaders are trying to gain mileage out of the court verdict,” he said. Shamsi also slammed those Muslim leaders who were criticising the verdict and urged them to respect the court order, which, he said had paved the way for both a temple and a mosque.

End the legal fight
The young leader also said he was planning to lead a delegation to meet the senior members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, an apex body of the Muslims in the country, to urge them to end the legal fight.

Incidentally, Shamsi’s uncle and well-known Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Saadiq is a senior vice-president of the AIMPLB. Maulana Saadiq commands a huge following among the Shias in the country.

Shamsi urged the Muslims to lend a helping hand in the construction of the temple to set an example in communal harmony.

“Such an act will go a long way in promoting communal peace and harmony in the country,” he said.