Arshad Afzaal Khan
AYODHYA—Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is going to Ayodhya to take part in the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple on January 22, 2024, also visit the site of the Dhannipur mosque and lay its foundation?
The Government of Uttar Pradesh has allotted five acres of land at Dhannipur, about 30 km from the original site of the Babri Masjid, to construct a new mosque in lieu of the demolished Babri Masjid. The Babri Masjid site was transferred to the temple trust through a verdict of the Supreme Court in November 2019 despite all evidence being in favour of the mosque.
The trustees of the Ayodhya Mosque Trust and Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation who have been entrusted with the assignment to build the new mosque have declared the mosque to be named Mohammad bin Abdullah Mosque, instead of the Babri Masjid. It is not clear if the name has been changed under pressure from the government or for some other reason.
Some Muslim leaders from Ayodhya district (formerly Faizabad district) have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of the Masjid at Dhannipur during his visit to the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
Quoting famous poet Allama Iqbal’s couplet “paasban mil gaye Kaa’be ko sanam khane se” (The Kaa’ba found guards from the temple), Mufti Hisbullah Khan alias Badshah Khan, the President of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind at Ayodhya, said, “Modi is prime minister of India, he is for Hindus and Muslims both. If he is coming to open the ‘Ibadatgaah’ of Hindu brothers, then he should also lay the foundation for the Masjid.”
Athar Husain, Secretary of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation and the Ayodhya Masjid Trust said, “Our goal is to build a cancer hospital to treat cancer patients free of charge, a mosque, a community kitchen, and a research centre dedicated to the 1857 freedom struggle hero Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah Faizabadi. We welcome the PM if he comes to lay the foundation of the mosque complex.”
Another Trustee of Ayodhya Masjid Trust, Mohammad Rashid, said, “If Modi visits the Masjid site, definitely it will give a grand message to the rest of the world, especially in those Muslim countries with whom India enjoyed good relations.”
Iqbal Ansari, the former litigant of Babri Masjid, said, ” Modi is not the prime minister of any particular community, he is the prime minister of all the humans living in the country, as he is doing everything for the temple, he should do for the Masjid also “. When asked whether you wanted Modi to visit the Masjid site, Ansari said, “I have certain reservations to say, is it possible that Modi may visit the Masjid site?”
Many Muslim leaders pointed out that the Abu Dhabi government in 2018 allotted 28 acres of land in Abu Mureikhan, close to the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway. The papers for the land were handed over to the temple management committee by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, at his private Royal Majlis in Abu Dhabi. Muslim leaders say that if the PM visits the site of the new mosque and also lays its foundation, it will be a very important factor in building communal harmony and mutual understanding all over the country at a time when mutual trust between Hindus and Muslims has weakened due to ongoing anti-Muslim campaign by some radical organizations and individuals. Will PM Modi take the bait and do as desired by Muslims? If he accepts the invitation and visits the site, it will start a new political discourse in the country.
State President of the Indian Union Muslim League, Najmul Hasan Ghani, who has been demanding for the re-construction of the Babri Masjid for a long, said, “I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to honour the spirit of the Supreme Court verdict and lay the foundation for the construction of a mosque also.”
Reacting over the appeal by Muslims that Modi should also visit the Masjid site, Maulana Asim Nadwi, convenor of the ‘Payame-e- Insaniyat,’ a communal harmony movement started by Islamic seminary Nadwa, said, “The Supreme Court verdict has clearly directed to build a mosque, besides the temple, and the PM is responsible for both mosque and the temple equally. The Prime Minister must take care of all communities equally. If the Prime Minister visits the Masjid site, definitely it will send a good message across the globe.”
