Daijiworld Media Network - Lucknow (SHP)

Lucknow, Nov 28: The Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board on Wednesday claimed that they would be elated to take over the five-acre land if Sunni Board rejects the offer. The Shia Board stated that they would even request the government instead of approaching the Supreme court.

However, as per chairman Waseem Rizvi, the land allocated would be used for a hospital rather than a mosque.

The Sunni Waqf Board, a main litigant in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land case, is yet to decide whether to accept any alternative plot.

A five-judge bench had ruled on November 9 that a temple should be built on the disputed site in Ayodhya, where the mosque was demolished in 1992.

The Muslims, represented by the Sunni Waqf Board, were allotted an alternative five-acre plot of land elsewhere in Ayodhya to build a mosque, it ordered.

Though the court did not recognise the Shia claim on the disputed site, Rizvi reiterated it while arguing that it should get the alternative plot if the Sunni board doesn’t want it.

"We will request the government to give it to us as the Supreme Court has also accepted that the Babri mosque was built by Mir Baqi, a Shia commander, and therefore the Shias have a claim over it," he said.

The Shia Board could bring a proposal for setting up a hospital there for the welfare of all sections of society.

At its meeting on Wednesday, the Shia Board also decided that filing a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict could vitiate the atmosphere and Muslims should accept the judgment.

The Sunni Waqf Board on Tuesday announced that it will not file a review petition against the SC verdict that went in favour of a temple at the disputed site. But it is yet to decide whether to accept the alternative five-acre plot.

But, the All India Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which was not a party to the lawsuit, has said it will file a review petition by December 9, challenging the apex court’s verdict.