All India Muslim Personal Law Board Rejects Land Offer; To File A Review Petition Against SC Verdict On Ayodhya Issue

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has declared that it will file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya issue.

The AIMPLB also decided not to accept the five-acre land for the mosque at an alternative site since it is against the tenets of Islam.

Senior AIMPLB member and convener of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC) Zafaryab Jilani said that the case had been filed in court on behalf of all Muslims and the board was representing the sentiments of the community which wanted to exercise its constitutional rights and file a review petition.

Jilani stated that senior lawyer Rajiv Dhawan would continue as their lawyer and they would try to file the petition within 30 days of the judgment which was given on November 9.

Zufar Faruqi, chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board had earlier stated that he would not file any review petition.

However, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind President Arshad Madani, who attended the board meeting, told reporters that he approved of the decision to file a review petition.

“Though we do not have much hope and know that the petition will be dismissed, we will still file a review petition. It is our right,” he said.

Reacting to Babri plaintiff Iqbal Ansari's refusal to file a review petition, Jilani said that the board was exercising its constitutional right and there was no politics in the issue. He said that Ansari was probably being pressured by the district administration not to file a review petition.

The board spokespersons said that the Supreme Court verdict was self-contradictory.

“The court has accepted the fact that namaaz was offered on the site and that idols were forcibly placed at the site on the night on December 22-23, 1949. The Supreme Court judges also ignored the fact that under Waqf rules, the place of mosque cannot be shifted. There was also no proof of any temple under the domes of the demolished mosque,” they said.

They said that they had not contested the case for an alternative land.