Lucknow: Just before the Bhoomi Pujan program for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Sunni Central Waqf Board has also formed a trust for the construction of the mosque. The trust formed by the Sunni Waqf Board will be named Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation. While giving the verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court had asked the state government to give five acres of separate land for the mosque to the Sunni Waqf Board. Now the Sunni Waqf Board will build a mosque along with other public utilities on the same land.
The Uttar Pradesh government gave the Sunni Waqf Board five acres of land at Raunahi in Ayodhya district as per the court’s decision. The Waqf Board and some other parties of the Babri dispute had not previously agreed to take this land. A review petition was also filed in protest against the Supreme Court’s decision which was rejected. Members of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, another party in the case, said that land could not be taken elsewhere in place of the mosque. However, the Waqf Board later accepted to take the land.
On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board announced the formation of a trust of 15 members. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the board will be the founding member of the trust. Board President Zufar Ahmed Farooqui will be the Chief Trustee and Chairman of the Trust. The Waqf Board has named Adnan Farooq Shah as vice-chairman of the trust and Athar Hussain as treasurer. Other members of the trust include Pad Aftab, Mohammad Junaid Siddiqui, Seikh Saeeduzman, Mohammad Rashid and Imran Ahmed. The board will announce the names of six other members of this trust later.
According to Waqf Board Chairman Zufar Farooqui, after the formation of the trust, a decision will be taken on the date of construction of the mosque soon. The board had announced to build a world-class library and hospital along with the mosque on this five-acre land.
