AYODHYA: The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation, the trust constituted by Sunni Waqf Board for construction of an alternate mosque in Ayodhya in lieu of Babri Masjid, has decided to invite Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for inaugurating the hospital, school, community kitchen, library and other public utility facilities on the 5-acre mosque complex.
The Trust, however, made it clear there would be no foundation laying ceremony for the mosque. This comes just 48 hours after Yogi parried questions from the media on participating in the mosque event, saying — Do you think I will be invited?
Confirming the decision to invite the chief minister to the mosque site at Dhannipur village, secretary of the Trust, Athar Hussain, told TOI “there’s no provision for laying a foundation stone for a mosque in the four schools of thought in Islam — Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi and Maliki.”
“A hospital, library, community kitchen and a research centre will also be built on the 5-acre land in Dhannipur village. These are public utility projects and we will invite the chief minister Yogi Adityanth to lay the foundation of these buildings,” said Athar Hussain. He said the chief minister will not only participate in the programme, but also assist in construction of these public facilities.
Talking about the name of the proposed mosque, Hussain said the name is yet to be decided. “For Allah, namaz is important, not the name of the mosque.” But he clarified the mosque won’t be named after Mughal emperor Babar. Imran Ahmad, member of the trust, said, “Ayodhya district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha has formally given possession of the land to the mosque trust. We have got a certified copy of the revenue record.”
