Ayodhya land dispute: Shia Waqf Board ready to donate part of land for Ram temple

The Uttar Pradesh Central Shia Waqf Board (UPSCWB) on Friday told the Supreme Court that it wants to donate one-third of land granted by the Allahabad High Court to Hindus for building the Ram Temple.

"For the unity, integrity, peace and harmony in this great country, Shia waqf board is in favour of donating Muslim share of Ayodhya disputed land for building the Ram Temple," Shia Waqf Board's lawyer told SC.

During the hearing, Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman, Waseem Rizvi said that as there was never a Masjid (Mosque) on the disputed site in Ayodhya, so there can never be a Masjid in the near future, adding that it was the birthplace of Lord Ram and only a Ram Temple would be built.

Shia Waqf Board went on to submit a file to the Supreme Court stating that they wanted to settle the dispute by peace.

The board claimed that the custodian of the Babri mosque was a Shia, hence the Sunni Waqf Board or anyone else were not the representative of Muslims in India.

"This constitution has preserved our democracy and rule of law," senior advocate, Rajeev Dhavan said.

"It is my view that just as the Bamiyan statues (Buddha) were destroyed by the Taliban, the Babri mosque was destroyed by Hindu Taliban. This Constitution has preserved our democracy and rule of law," he added.

A special bench of the Supreme Court of India headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra fixed July 20 as the next date of hearing on the controversial Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case.

Earlier in 2010, a three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court in a 2:1 majority ruing had ordered that the land will be partitioned equally among the three parties in the case - the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.