No mosque at disputed site: Shia board

Shia Waqf Board on Monday once again staked claim over the demolished Babri Masjid and said that it was not in favour of construction of a mosque at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

“We are of the opinion that no mosque should be constructed near a temple. A mosque should be constructed only in Muslim localities,’’ Board chairman Wasim Rizvi said here.

Speaking to reporters here Rizvi said that the ‘fatwas’ (religious decrees) from Iran and Iraq (both Shia dominated countries) on this issue had also favoured construction of mosque away from the temple in Muslim areas.

“We will not name the mosque after Babar, who was an invader and outsider, in case our claim is accepted by the Supreme Court. We will instead call it Masjid-e-Aman (mosque of Peace),’’ he said.

Rizvi said that the mosques of the Shia and Sunni communities were different and called for resolving the vexed issue through negotiations.
Earlier this month, the Shia Waqf Board had, for the first time, filed a petition in the apex court claiming ownership of the disputed structure.

In its petition, the Board claimed that the disputed structure had been constructed by Mir Baki, who hailed from the Shia community.

“The claim of the Sunni Central Waqf Board on the disputed structure is wrong. All the caretakers of the Babri Masjid belonged to Shia community,’’ Rizvi had contended in his petition.

The mosque (disputed structure) was under the control of the Shia community till 1944,’’ he claimed.