 "Ayodhya case: Shia Waqf Board says it wants to settle dispute peacefully; SC sets 20 July as next date of hearing")
The Shia Waqf Board on Friday told the Supreme Court that they want to settle the Ayodhya land dispute peacefully, according to reports. The board, according to ANI, said that the custodian of the Babri mosque was a Shia and the Sunni Waqf Board is not the representative of Muslims in India. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer is hearing arguments on whether the Ayodhya matter should be heard by a constitution bench or not, according to Bar and Bench. The Shia Waqf Board submitted that the matter need not be referred to a constitution bench and said that it is ready to relinquish its claims in the national interest. The board’s lawyer, according to Times Now, said that “for the unity, integrity, peace and harmony in this great country, Shia Waqf board is in favour of donating the Muslim share of Ayodhya disputed land for building the Ram Temple.” Meanwhile, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan said that the Shia Waqf Board “has no locus” to speak in the case. The Supreme Court has set the next date of hearing as 20 July.
Ayodhya case: Senior Advocate Rajiv Dhawan in Supreme Court said 'Shia Waqf Board has no locus to speak in this case. Just as the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan, the Hindu Taliban destroyed Babri Masjid.'
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2018
This comes after Muslim groups argued before the Supreme Court on 6 July that the “sweeping” observation of the apex court in the 1994 verdict needed to be reconsidered by a five-judge bench as “it had and will have a bearing” on the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case. Dhavan said the apex court in 1994 had observed that mosques were not integral to Islam without making any ‘inquiry’ or considering Islamic texts on this issue. “Islam says mosques are integral to faith. Hadith says this, but the Supreme Court says it was not integral to Islam,” the senior lawyer said while adding that the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court referred to and relied upon this observation in deciding the civil suit. “If the congregation part of Islam is taken away, a large part of Islam goes worthless. Mosques are meant for congregation and prayer,” Dhavan was quoted as saying by The Hindu. With inputs from PTI
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