Hospital, library also on 5-acre mosque site

LUCKNOW: UP Sunni Central Waqf Board on Monday decided to constitute a trust to construct a mosque as well as amenities such as a charitable hospital and a public library on the five-acre alternative land allotted to it by the UP government following the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case.
After a meeting of the Board in Lucknow, chairperson Zufar Ahmad Faruqi said the trust would also build a research centre to showcase the Indo-Islamic culture of several centuries and other facilities for all sections of society.
In its edition on February 21, TOI quoted Faruqi as saying the Board “never had the liberty to reject” the alternative land once it had said it would abide by the apex court’s verdict. On Monday, he told newspersons the Board had decided to accept the land, located in Raunahi village under Sohawal tehsil in Ayodhya district.
“The trust will soon be constituted and names of its office-bearers will be shared with the media,” Faruqi said, adding it was undecided whether the new mosque will be named after Babri Masjid. “These decisions will be taken after the formation of the trust,” he said.
Faruqi said the Board was satisfied with the plot of land allocated to it since there is a sizeable population of Muslims in the area. “This will ensure the mosque’s safety and no further disputes arise. The size of the mosque will be decided according to the local requirement,” he added.
Faruqi had earlier told TOI that Babri Masjid was built on just a third of an acre (0.307 acres to be precise).
Two of the eight members of the Board — advocates Imran Mabood Khan of Allahabad and Abdul Razzaq Khan of Lucknow — did not attend the meeting.
While Imran has not attended a single Board meeting in the last eight years because of differences with Faruqi, Razzaq was the lone dissenting voice in the last Board meeting, held on November 26, when it was decided to follow the SC verdict. Razzaq had then protested against the Board’s decision not to file a review petition after the SC verdict.
Besides Faruqi, Abrar Ahmad, Mohammad Junaid Siddiqui, Adnan Farrukh Shah, Mohammad Juneed and Maulana Syed Ahmed Ali alias Khushnood Miyan attended the Board’s meeting on Monday.