Lucknow: Revered Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq on Sunday said that Muslims should give up their claim on the disputed Babri land if the Supreme Court verdict goes against them.
“Muslims should peacefully accept the decision of the Supreme Court of India even if its verdict goes against the community,” he said while addressing a world peace and harmony conclave in Mumbai.
“I would rather urge the community to give away the disputed land to Hindus whose feelings are so deeply attached to the place,” he said, according to a report in Times of India, a newspaper based in India.
Clarifying his view, he said, “By giving away a piece of land, the community can win millions of hearts.”
Citing wisdom from the Islamic literature, Maulana Sadiq added that one who knows whom to give, receives the benevolence of the almighty.
“If a person gives away a thing close to his/her heart, one receives a thousand times in return,” said Sadiq who is also the vice-president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
On August 9, the board had reportedly told the apex court that the mosque can be constructed away from the disputed land.
The board, in its affidavit filed in the apex court, submitted that the mosque be relocated from the “most revered place of birth of Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram” to a nearby Muslim-dominated area to conclude the dispute over the 2.77 acres of land which houses a makeshift temple of Ram Lalla.
“The AIMPLB, which is an umbrella organization of various Muslim bodies in the country, maintains its stand that land of a mosque cannot be given, gifted, donated or sold or exchanged. The same holds true for Babri Masjid as well. We all in the AIMPLB, including board’s vice-president Maulana Sadiq, are bound by that decision. I wonder how and why he said this. It appears to be his personal opinion,” he said.
