A fatwa has been issued against an Islamic cleric for attending the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22.
Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, the chief of All India Imam Organisation, said he had also been facing protests and receiving threat calls ever since he attended the ‘Pran Pratishtha’.
"As a chief Imam, I received the invitation from Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra. I contemplated for two days and then decided to go to Ayodhya for harmony and for the country. The fatwa was issued yesterday but I had been receiving threat calls since the evening of January 22," Ilyasi told news agency ANI.
The Imam said he had given a message of love by attending the ceremony and that those who hate him should go to Pakistan.
“Those who love me, love the nation, will support me. Those who hate me for attending the ceremony should perhaps go to Pakistan. I have given a message of love; I did not do any crime," he added.
He also asserted that he would neither apologise nor resign from his post.
The consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla idol was held on January 22 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
