JOIN USExpressing dissatisfaction with the Supreme Court's judgement on Babri-Masjid-Ram-Janmabhoomi land dispute, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and other organisations representing Muslims on Saturday indicated that they would soon take a call on moving a petition seeking its review.
The AIMPLB and the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind stated that the Muslims could not accept any alternate plot of land in exchange for the land where the Babri Mosque stood. They said that they respected the Apex court, but disagreed with it. They also underlined that certain aspects of the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court would strengthen the secular ethos of the nation.
The Supreme Court on Saturday ruled in favour of Hindus by allowing the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. It, however, also directed the government to allot an alternate plot of land of five acres for the construction of a mosque by Muslims.
“We are dissatisfied with certain findings of the Supreme Court... we respect the Supreme Court, and respectfully disagree with certain aspects of its judgement,” Zafaryab Jilani, secretary of the AIMPLB, told journalists at a news-conference in New Delhi. He said that the AIMPLB and other organisations would soon meet and explore the legal options, including filing a petition at the Supreme Court seeking a review of the judgement delivered on Saturday.
Jilani, a senior advocate, represented Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the main litigants on behalf of the Muslims in the Babri-Masjid-Ram-Janmabhoomi case.
He said that the AIMPLB and other Muslim organisations would study the judgment and decide on the next course of action. “Whatever legal recourse is possible, we will take,” he said.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board, however, said that it had no plan to seek a review of the Supreme Court's judgement. “We welcome the Supreme Court verdict in the case. The Board has no plans to challenge it,” Farooqui said.
Jilani, however, clarified that he had addressed the press conference in New Delhi as a secretary of the AIMPLB, not as a counsel of the Sunni Central Waqf Board.
Kamal Farooqui of the AIMPLB said that the Muslims could not accept the alternate plot of land of five acres that the Supreme Court directed the government to allot for the construction of a mosque. He says Muslims could never accept even land worth Rs 500 crore in exchange of the land on which a mosque was built. “This is a matter of faith for Muslims,” Syed Sadatullah Husaini, president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said.