Once a mosque always a mosque, says All India Muslim Personal Law Board

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said that the Babri Masjid will remain a mosque because once a mosque is established at a spot, it remains one till eternity.

In a statement, the Board said this is what the Shariat also states.

The statement has come hours before the 'Bhumi pujan' of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

It further said that the Supreme Court's November 2019 verdict allowing the construction of a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was "unjust and unfair".

"Babri Masjid was and will always be a Masjid. Hagia Sophia is a great example for us. Usurpation of the land by an unjust, oppressive, shameful and majority appeasing judgment cannot change its status. No need to be heartbroken. Situations don't last forever. It's Politics," the statement said.

AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani said, "It has always been our position that the Babri Masjid was never built by demolishing any mandir or any Hindu place of worship."

The statement said that the Supreme Court also accepted that the placing of idols on December 22, 1949, in the mosque was an illegal act. The court also accepts in its judgment that the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, was an illegal, unconstitutional and criminal act.

"It is indeed regrettable that after accepting all these facts, the apex court in an extremely unjust verdict handed over the land of the masjid to the people who had placed idols in the mosque in a criminal manner and were party to its criminal demolition," Wali said.

"The Babri masjid was a masjid before, is a masjid today and shall remain a masjid," he added.

The AIMPLB had backed the prime litigants in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case in the court. It had also filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its November 9, 2019 verdict. However, the court had, in December 2019, dismissed all review petitions.

Significantly, the AIMPLB statement comes just ahead of the Ram Mandir 'bhumi pujan'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform the bhumi pujan on Wednesday afternoon. The construction of the temple is likely to be completed in the next three years.

--IANS

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