M Hasan
Lucknow, November 17: Sharply divided All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB)- an apex body of Muslim community- today decided to file a review petition against the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit. The decision was taken after heated arguments between moderate and hardliners in the board at Mumtaz College where the meeting was held. There was no consensus on the issue, sources said.
Initially the meeting was due to be held at Nadvatul Uloom, popularly known as Nadva, Lucknow. But fearing disruption the venue was shifted to Mumtaz College. A prominent faculty member of Nadva Maulana Salman Nadvi has already opposed any move to challenge the verdict. He had led drive for out-of-court settlement which resulted into his removal from AIMPLB at Hyderabad meeting last year. Salman Nadvi has powerful presence at the Nadva campus.
Announcing the decision, the executive committee member advocate Zafaryab Jilani told newsmen that review petition would be filed within stipulated period of 30 days after the announcement of verdict on November 9, 2019. Jilani pointed out several glaring shortcomings in the verdict which according to him has forced some petitioners to file review petition. The Jamiat Ulema Hind led by Maulana Arshad Madni was at the forefront of demanding review petition. However there were sharp dissenting voices against the move. Maulana Rashad Madni of JUH was one of the petitioners.
According to information JUH general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madni opposing the decision left the meeting. Highly placed sources said AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani, Lucknow Eidgah Imam and a popular moderate leader Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahli and several others also opposed the idea of filing review petition. However, both were not available for comments.
Ever since the announcement of verdict on November 9, a row had erupted among the stake holders in the Muslim community. While Sunni Central Waqf Board-main petitioner- had immediately announced not to file review petition, so also few other petitioners including Iqbal Ansari, but Jilani said a review petition would be filed after the AIMPLB meeting. There were sharp differences in the board over the issues as each member has his political interest in his/her home states.
AIMPLB was not a party to the title suit case and would need the backing at least one of the eight Muslim litigants to file a review petition. Iqbal Ansari, whose father, Hashim Ansari, was one of the first and oldest litigants in the case, has decided not to challenge the Ayodhya verdict. Another Muslim litigant, Haji Mehboob, has also echoed similar sentiments. Mohammad Umar, a third Muslim litigant, had said that he would abide by whatever decision AIMPLB is taken by AIMPLB.. “There are some inconsistencies in the verdict and I feel there is a scope for correction. I will go by whatever my seniors in the AIMPLB tell me to do,” he said.
Regarding five acres land allotted to Sunni Waqf board the AIMPLB said it will not accept the alternative five-acre land. “We feel that restitution by granting five acres of land, where fundamental values have been damaged to the extent of causing national shame, will not in any manner heal the wounds caused,” The board said mosques are essential for the religious practice of Muslims. “Building the same mosque at some other site in a situation like this is also not permissible as per Islamic law. Hence, we will file a review petition,” the board said.
However, neither the AIMPLB nor petitioners except Sunni Waqf board has anything to do with the five acres land. The Supreme Court in its verdict has specifically allotted the land “at a prominent place in Ayodhya” to Sunni Board. So according to legal expert decision of accepting or not will have to be taken by Sunni Board, which is meeting on November 27. Other stakeholders are thus non-entity in this matter.
