Ayodhya: Sunni Waqf Board accepts 5-acre land offered by UP govt

The Sunni Waqf Board has decided to accept the five-acre land given to it by the Uttar Pradesh government in keeping with the directions of the Supreme Court on the Ayodhya title suit on November 9, 2019. "The board has decided to accept the land," said a note issued by the board after its meeting in Lucknow on Monday. 

This was along expected lines as the Supreme Court has dismissed all petitions challenging its decision while the Sunni Waqf Board itself had made it clear after the verdict that it would not challenge the decision. Only five of the eight members of the board attended Monday’s meeting in an indication that the decision to accept the land is not unanimous. 

The board has decided to constitute a trust for the construction of a mosque on the land. In addition, an Indo-Islamic cultural and educational centre shall also be set up on the land. A public library and a charitable hospital open to people of all faiths is also proposed to be constructed on the piece of land. In a brief statement given to the media, Waqf Board Chairman Zufar Faroqui said, “The grand traditions of the Indo-Islamic culture will be displayed at the centre”. 

The membership of the trust shall be announced later, though no date was given in today’s meeting for the formation of the trust. 

In the wake of the Supreme Court order, the Uttar Pradesh government had announced the allotment of a five-acre piece of land in Dhannipur village in the Raunahi area of the Faizabad Lucknow highway—some 20 kilometres away from the disputed site. This allotted site exists outside the sacred 14-kosi area of the birthplace. This has been criticised by many as being too far off and not being within the original boundaries of Ayodhya.