New Delhi: ‘We fought the case for 70 years not because of the land but for its right’, said Maulana Arshad Madani, head of prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, expressing dissatisfaction over Supreme Court verdict on Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title case on Wednesday.
Regarding decision on filing a review petition against the order, he said it will be taken in a meeting of the working committee of the body. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was one of the key litigants in the case.
The Supreme Court, in its verdict on Saturday, ordered to give away the entire 2.77 acres of disputed land to the deity Ram Lalla, one of the three litigants in the case. The bench comprising five judges directed the centre to allot a 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya to build a mosque.
Maulana Madani said as per Islamic law Shariah, the Babri mosque was only as important as any other mosque in the country. PTI quoted him as saying, “If we wanted 5-acre land then we would not have fought the case for 70 years. Muslims have enough land. We have built mosques on our lands and will continue to do so. The land has been given to the Sunni Waqf Board. If it was given to us, we would have refused.” He reiterated that it was a fight of principles and rights.
Saying that this judgement is beyond their understanding, Maulana Madani explained that despite accepting that placing idols in a mosque and demolishing it is illegal, the Supreme Court handed over the land to the Hindu litigants.
He claimed that the Court did not take the decision on the basis of evidence but on the basis of faith. However, Maulana Madani expressed happiness that the court accepted that Muslims “did not build the (Babri) mosque by demolishing a temple during Babur’s rule”.