Muslim body to file review appeal in Babri Mosque case

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – A body of top Islamic clerics has decided Sunday to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict on the Babri Mosque, local media reported.

On Nov. 9, the Supreme court of India ruled that the historical site of early 16th century Babri Mosque should be handed over to Hindus for the construction of Ram Temple.

The apex court also ruled that a “suitable plot” of land measuring 5 acres would be allotted to the Sunni Waqf Board either by the central government or provincial government to construct a mosque.

However, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a private body working to protect Muslims in India, decided to refuse the 5-acre alternative plot of land that the Supreme Court asked the government to allot for a mosque.

"We have decided to file a reconsideration petition before Dec. 9 in Ayodhya dispute case,” Zafaryab Jilani, the secretary of the board, was quoted as saying after a board meeting in the weekly news magazine India Today.

He further said that the Supreme Court decision is "not understandable" and so there is a need to go for a review.

A meeting of the AIMPLB was organized in Lucknow, northern India, with different Muslim parties to discuss whether to go for a review of the court’s judgement in the Babri Mosque case.

Built in 1528 under the rule of first Mughal emperor Babur, the grand mosque along with a land of 2.77 acres in India’s central province of Uttar Pradesh was demolished by a group of radical Hindus in 1992. Hindus claimed one of their gods, Lord Ram, was born at the site of the mosque.