“At best, it's a please-all judgement. It's disappointing that the court didn't decide on who owned the land. Although litigations before it were about the title suit of the said land, the court chose not to rake up the matter,” Maulana Iftikhar Ahmad Qasmi, President, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) told Deccan Herald.
According to the Maulana, the community should look into where its case faltered.
"We firmly believed in what we argued for. Yet, it's worrying that the court outrightly rejected the suit of the UP Sunni Central Wakf Board. We'll we have to inspect the loopholes in our case and bring the necessary remedies," he said.
Respect the verdict
Even as the leaders said that they would stand by their promise of respecting the verdict, they said the quality of judgement left a lot to be desired. "It's apprehensive; we had appealed for justice, not an arbitration or award. By ruling the division of the land, the court has chosen to forget the title suit," Abdul Wahid Sait, Vice President, Popular Front of India, Karnataka, said.
Terming the verdict a "definite" disappointment, Sait added that the issue before the court was not to resolve the vexed the matter.
“Resolving the matter or going for a settlement was not the issue before the court. We need to decide on who owns the land first, later we can resolve on how to divide it,” Abdul Wahid Sait said.
The next course of action would be decided after due consultations, Maulana Riyazur Rahman Rashadi, Imam, City Jamia Masjid, said. "Only the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) can call the shots on the matter," he said adding that Board needed to tread the path carefully. On approaching the Supreme Court, the Maulana said that it would be better if the matter was not dragged further.
The Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz, a federation of 28 Muslim organisations in the State, too, said that the AIMPLB's decision in the matter was final.
“We hope they would take a suitable decision,” Masood Abdul Khader, KMMM Convener, said.
