No land identified for mosque in Ayodhya ruling, says UP government – lucknow

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday denied media reports that it has identified five options for a five-acre land to build a mosque in Ayodhya as per the Supreme Court ruling in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case.

A section of media had reported earlier in the day that the state government had identified an alternative plot outside the ‘Panch-Kosi Parikrama’ periphery, the roughly 15-km route that covers all the important temples and shrines in the present-day Ayodhya.

Denying the reports, additional chief secretary (home), Awanish Awasthi, said, “The state government has not done anything of the sort.”

Media reports had also said that the UP government, through the Ayodhya district administration, had shortlisted five places, each with five acres of land available, and forwarded the proposal to the Union home ministry to finalise one. However, Ayodhya district magistrate AK Jha denied that the district administration had made any such move.

UP Sunni Central Waqf Board (UPSCWB) chairman Zafar Ahmad Faruqui said, “I have not received any information or official communication from either the state or Centre regarding the allocation of (five-acre) land.”

The UPSCWB has kept its options open even though Muslim organisations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamait-e- Ulema Hind rejected the offer of land made by the Supreme Court in its November 9 verdict. In its November 25 meeting, the UPSCWB had decided to take a final call on whether or not to accept the land only after deliberation among its members once it receives a formal communication about it.