New Delhi: Following the announcement by All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) that it will go for a review petition challenging the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari of Delhi’s Shahi Jama Masjid says that the festering issue has now been settled by the Supreme Court and that should be the end of it.’
Shahi Imam warns that going into the review may again create bad blood between the Muslims and Hindus.
National Herald quoted Bukhari as saying, “The AIMPLB had been saying all through that they would accept the Supreme Court’s decision, whatever it is. Now they are going back on their words. People should understand that the court’s verdict is not against the Babri masjid.”
Saying that Muslims have had the moral victory in the case he pointed out, “There are a few important things that have emerged from the SC order. One, Babri masjid had not been constructed over a demolished temple. Two, placing idols in the masjid in 1949 was illegal and so was masjid’s demolition in December 1992. Third, that namaz used to be performed in the masjid regularly and there is proof of it.”
Bukhari further expressed apprehensions that even if the court decides in favour of the Muslim parties, masjid cannot be constructed at the disputed site. And even if the masjid is somehow constructed there, it will be possible for the Muslims to go and offer namaz there. He said, considering the present circumstances, it is better that the matter is laid to rest so that the communal harmony and peace is maintained.
The Muslim Personal Law Board had on Saturday announced its decision to file the review petition.