The announcement of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), on July 29, was viewed as somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction by the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board as it came just six days before the proposed bhoomi pujan for the Ram mandir at the Ram Janmbhoomi in Ayodhya.
Athar Husain, the spokesperson of the IICF, dismissed the perception as fallacious.
“The efforts of the board, since the start of the pandemic, have been focused on providing for the poor and the needy. Yet consultations about the trust were on and a decision about its formation was taken on July 19 in a virtual meeting,” he said.
The IICF is to be responsible for the building of the mosque and ‘other facilities for the benefit of general public’ on the five acres of land offered to it in Dhannipur village—some 25 kilometres away from the Janmbhoomi site. On February 24, the board had accepted the land offered by the state government following the Supreme Court judgment in the Ayodhya title suit on November 9, 2019. On March 5, the board had received papers for the land but physical possession has not happened.
The five acres will have medical and education facilities in addition to a museum, library, publishing house and a community kitchen.
It is noteworthy that the proposed mosque is to be of the dimensions of the demolished Babri Masjid. The Ram mandir, in contrast, will be grander and bigger than what was initially proposed.
Husain said, “In Islam, any place where the namaz is offered is sacred. When we touch our foreheads to the ground in obeisance (sajda), it is this which goes to the Almighty and it has nothing to do with the size of the building where it is offered”.
The IIFC is a nine-member trust with a further six members to be co-opted. There have been some voices of protest over the membership.
