A day ahead of the bhoomi pujan ceremony for the Ayodhya Ram mandir, religious rituals are well underway; Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued an appeal, asking only those invited for Wednesday's ceremony to come to Ayodhya. Among the 175 invited for the main ceremony are 135 sants belonging to numerous spiritual traditions, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra said in a series of tweets. On the dais, there will be just five people—Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, trust chief Nritya Gopaldas Maharaj, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Adityanath.
According to multiple media reports, there are at least four high-profile Muslim invitees to the event.
Iqbal Ansari
Iqbal Ansari was a litigant for the Muslim side in the Ayodhya land dispute case. His father Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case, died at the age of 95 in 2016, after which the son started pursuing the case in the court.
Ansari said he has received the invitation and that he will certainly attend the event. He said he will gift a copy of the Ramcharitmanas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he attends the ceremony. He said: "I respect sadhus and saints. I am happy to have received the invitation for the ceremony. I think it is Lord Ram's will that I attend it".
When asked what he would have done had the court decided the case in his favour, Ansari said he had wanted the construction of a school and a hospital on the disputed land. "I feel the city needs development. The future of our children should be safe and secure and they should get employment. Dispute in the name of religion should end now and we should let the city witness a new beginning," he said.
When the issued was raging on in the courts, Ansari had criticised the temple dispute as a "goose laying golden eggs". "There are people from both the sides [Muslims and Hindus] who do not want that temple to come up. Once the dispute ends, their business will also come to an end. There are many political leaders from both the sides who shot into limelight by raking up this temple issue from time to time. If the dispute is resolved, their prominence will fade away. Some leaders in the name of temple dispute are doing sheer politics."
Waseem Rizvi
The Print reported that UP Shia Waqf Board Chairman Syed Waseem Rizvi was another name on the list. He has accepted the invite. “It will be a dream come true for me to be there. I want to stand there with the devotees of Lord Ram, and be a part of the historic occasion,” Rizvi told the publication.
Rizvi, 49, has been a constant presence in the news for 'controversial' statements and his staunch support for the construction of the Ram mandir at the disputed site. He once said that Muslims not in favour of the temple should go to Pakistan.
A descendent of the royal physician Shafa-ud-Daula of Awadh, Lucknow-born Rizvi studied till class 12; he couldn’t continue his studies because of the untimely death of his father. Rizvi is heading the Shia Central Waqf Board for the fourth time now. Muslim leaders who oppose him, however, have alleged that he has been supporting the temple construction to cover up the corruption in the board.
Speaking to THE WEEK, Rizvi had clarified the controversies over his Ram mandir statement. "India is an apt place for secular Muslims, and they outnumber those who have an extreme parochial mentality and extremist views. Secular Indian Muslims do not want any controversy [with respect to the temple], whereas extremists want jihad here. India does not need jihad."
Mohammad Sharif
Sharif is a Padma Shri recipient and an Ayodhya-based social activist. According to news reports, his family has stated that he will not be able to attend as he is too old and ill.
Known popularly as Sharif Chacha, the 80-year-old has been performing the last rites of unclaimed Hindu and Muslim bodies in Faizabad for the last 27 years. He told THE WEEK: "Kya Hindu, kya Musalman, sabse pehle insaan” (What Hindu, What Muslim, humans above all). A cycle mechanic who lives in a small rented accommodation, when he first started picking up unclaimed bodies, he would take them to the cremation or burial ground on a push cart or his cycle.
Sharif has, as per his memory, cremated 3,000 Hindus and buried 1,500 Muslims till date, though media reports peg this number at a much higher 25,000. The resolve came to him when his own son’s dismembered body, partly devoured by animals was found on a railway track 27 years ago. “I resolved then that no individual would undergo the humiliation my son [then 25] had undergone in death,” he told THE WEEK.
Zufar Ahmed Farooqui
He is the chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board that was one of the key petitioners from the Muslim side in the land dispute. He also helms the 15-member trust that is overseeing the construction of the mosque at the five-acre site in Ayodhya.
He reportedly told The Print that he has not been keeping very well and that he has been advised by doctors to not step outside. "That said, I am yet to receive an invitation. So I will only be able to take a final call then.”
Out of the 15 members in his trust, the names of nine have been declared. They will "co-opt six other members". "We made the trust named Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation. It will oversee the construction of a mosque, Indo-Islamic research centre, library and hospital in the five-acre land allotted to the board in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village," Farooqui said.
Preparations underway for the ceremony in Ayodhya
Adityanath spent hours reviewing the arrangements for the ceremony. Twelve priests on Monday conducted prayers dedicated to Lord Ganesh. This was to be followed by prayers to the deities of the dynasties of Lord Ram and goddess Sita. On Tuesday, prayers will be offered at Ayodhya's Hanumangarhi temple.
The trust asked devotees to organise bhajans and kirtans in places outside Ayodhya as well, while keeping restrictions related to COVID-19 in mind.
CM Yogi Adityanath called the event historic. "It is not only a historic but also an emotional moment as after 500 years the Ram temple work will start. It will be the foundation of a new India," he said. "The COVID-19 protocol will be strictly followed at the event. As the prime minister will be here representing 135 crore people, I appeal that only those who have been invited should visit Ayodhya. The rest should remain at their respective places," Adityanath said.
The ceremony will be broadcast live by Doordarshan. The chief minister urged people to light earthen lamps, decorate temples and recite the Ramayana in memory of those "who laid down their lives in the temple struggle".
