The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday, 5 February, allotted five acres of land in Ayodhya district to the Sunni Central Waqf Board, as directed by the Supreme Court, for a mosque, reported news agency PTI.
The land is in Dhannipur village, in Ayodhya’s tehsil Sohawal on the Lucknow highway, about 18 kilometres from the district headquarters, state government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma told reporters.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday morning.
"The state government had sent three alternatives for land to the Centre. This one was accepted by the Centre and state cabinet has approved its allotment. There is good transportation facility to reach here and communal amity and law and order are also good," Sharma added.
Earlier during the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Lok Sabha the formation of a trust to construct a Ram Temple in Ayodhya as directed by the apex court.
‘Sunni Board Accepting Land Won't be Decision of All Muslims’: AIMPLB
Reacting to the development, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said the Sunni Waqf Board is not the representative of the entire Muslim community and if it accepts the Centre's offer it should not be considered a decision of the entire community.
According to PTI, the board's senior executive member Maulana Yasin Usmani said that AIMPLB and those associated with it have decided that they "will not take any land in Ayodhya".
‘Would Have Constructed Ram Temple If Land Given to Us’: Shia Waqf Board
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board said that had the 5 acres of land been given to them, they would have constructed a Ram temple.
"Had the Shia Waqf board got the land, it would have constructed another Ram temple there," chairman of UP Shia Central Waqf Board Wasim Rizvi told news agency PTI.
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