AYODHYA (UP), Dec 18: A BJP leader here has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, asking him to reclaim the land allotted for the construction of a mosque here and claiming that no substantial endeavour has been undertaken to build it.
“The Muslim community’s intention was never to construct the mosque but to perpetuate discord under the pretext of a mosque,” Rajneesh Singh, the BJP’s media in-charge for Ayodhya and local spokesperson, said in the December 10 letter.
Asserting that “a mosque is not necessary for offering prayers anyway,” Singh further appealed to the chief minister to “issue strict instructions to the officials of the Ayodhya mosque trust to use the land in compliance with the Supreme Court orders”.
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In case they are unable to do so, directives should be issued to return the land to the government to prevent its misuse, the BJP leader added.
On November 9, 2019, settling a fractious issue that went back more than a century, a Supreme Court bench headed by the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, at the site where the 16th century Babri Masjid once stood.
It also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot would be found for a mosque in the holy town.
The Sunni Central Waqf Board later formed the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation to build a new mosque on the land allotted by the state government in the Dhannipur area of the district.
In his letter, Singh wrote, “In compliance with the Supreme Court’s order, the land allocated to the Sunni Central Waqf Board in Ayodhya is being used by the people concerned for other purposes.”
He added that since the apex court’s verdict, “no substantial endeavour has been undertaken by the Muslim community to construct the mosque”.
In a conversation with PTI, Singh said, “The Muslim community merely wishes to preserve Babar’s legacy through this mosque and aims to manipulate Hindu sentiments in the name of Babri Masjid.”
When PTI contacted Athar Husain, the secretary of the Ayodhya Masjid Trust, for his reaction to the issue, he refused to comment.
In 2022, Singh petitioned the Allahabad High Court, claiming that the Taj Mahal mausoleum is an ancient temple dedicated to the deity Lord Shiva and is known as the “Tejo Mahalaya”. (PTI)
