It is AIMPLB's right to file review petition but Ayodhya matter should just end here: Shia cleric

Shia Cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad on Saturday stated that though it is All India Muslim Personal Law Board's (AIMPLB) right to file review petition but the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid matter should just end here.

"We humbly accept the SC verdict, I am thankful to God that Muslims, by and large, have accepted this verdict and the dispute has ended now. Though it is their (AIMPLB) right to file review petition, I think the matter should just end now," said Jawad.

"The decade long dispute has ended today. Our lawyers could not prove their point and lost the case but we accept this defeat. We support the Supreme Court's decision. Muslims are also accepting this verdict. Everyone has accepted this decision with an open heart," he said.

Jawad further stated that though according to the Supreme Court verdict, a five-acre plot will be allotted to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque, however, this might spark a 'dispute' among the 'Muslims'.

"We thank SC to direct the Centre to give five acres of suitable land to Sunni Waqf Board but we already have so many mosques across the nation. This might become a reason for dispute among the Muslims while deciding who will build the mosque, who will guard the mosque and things like that," said Jawad.

"The focus of Muslim leadership should now be to end unemployment among Muslims, to end illiteracy and to improve their economic condition. They should accept this decision and move forward to work for their betterment," he added.

The Supreme Court on Saturday directed the Central government to hand over the disputed site at Ayodhya for the construction of a temple and set up a trust for the same.

The apex court further directed the government to give a suitable plot of land measuring five acres to the Sunni Waqf Board.

A five-judge constitution bench presided by Chief Justice Gogoi and comprising Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer passed the order on a batch of petitions against an order of the Allahabad High Court which trifurcated the site between the parties -- Ramlalla Virajman, Sunni Central Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara.

A decade-long legal dispute was fought by right-wing party Hindu Mahasabha, a sect of Hindu monks Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni Waqf Board over 2.77 acres of land in Ayodhya.