Mumbai:
Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan on Sunday reacted to Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict by claiming Muslims should set up schools and hospitals insteadof a mosque on the 5-acre plot given to the community as per the apex court order. The Supreme Court in a unanimous verdict on Saturday cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at thedisputed site at Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot a5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque.
Khan (83), the writer of legendary movies like Sholayand Deewar, added it was good the issue had finally ended. "Like a film, it has come to an end. It doesn't matte rif you criticise it, call it good or whatever, it's the end.This was going on for years and was long drawn, becoming morecomplicated than ever. The Supreme Court took time and gave a verdict. You cannot go on about it now," Khan told PTI.
"We have to offer namaz, but we can do it from anywhere, in train, plane, while travelling. All we need is aclean place. We don't need a masjid for that. Today's priorityis schools, colleges, hospitals. We must look into that," headded. "We must build schools, hospitals and colleges on the five-acre land. Our tall leaders will come from educational institutions. In fact the first chapter of our Holy Bookfocuses on the importance of education," Khan stated.
He said the film industry did not have good writersbecause "no one reads books here anymore", stressing that "weneed to change this".
