Muslim Board rules out compromise on Ayodhya

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), an apex body of Muslims in the country, on Saturday rejected efforts to resolve the vexed Ayodhya issue through negotiations and said that it would not make any compromise in the matter even as an Uttar Pradesh minister triggered a controversy by accusing the Board of ''supporting'' terrorism and questioning its source of funding.

The Board also strongly opposed the reported move for a uniform civil code (UCC) and said that it would create problems not for the Muslims but also for the SC, ST, and tribals.

''There is no question of making any compromise on the Ayodhya issue...our case is very strong and our lawyers have been arguing it before the supreme court....we will abide by the verdict of the court,'' said a senior AIMPLB functionary after a meeting of the Board's executive committee here at Nadwa-tul-Ulema, a well known Islamic seminary.

Some Muslim intellectuals, who had held a meeting here recently, had said that the Sunni Central Waqf Board, which was one of the main plaintiffs in the Ayodhya case, should withdraw its claim on the disputed land so that a Ram Temple could be built there.

UP minister Mohsin Raza triggered a controversy after he questioned the source of funding of the Board and said that the latter had been ''soft'' toward the terrorists.

''Who is funding the Board meetings?...we need to find out...we will investigate it...AIMPLB is unconstitutional,'' Raza here said.

Taking a strong exception to the minister's remarks, senior Board member and Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahali said that the Board represented the Muslims in the country and was a ''registered'' body.