Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board Chairman Waseem Rizvi has suggested that Muslims who are against building the Ram temple in Ayodhya "must go to Pakistan and Bangladesh".
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Babri Masjid- Ram Janmabhoomi dispute from 8 February.
Rizvi offered Friday prayers at the disputed site in Ayodhya and also met the chief priest of the Ram Janambhoomi, Acharya Satyendra Das.
On the occasion, he said, "Those who are opposing the Ram temple in Ayodhya and want to build the Babri Mosque there do not have a place in India. People having such a fundamentalist mentality should go to Pakistan and Bangladesh.”
"Those who want to spread Jihad in the name of the mosque must go and join the forces of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ISIS chief," he added.
He alleged that fundamentalist Muslim clerics are trying to destroy the country and they must migrate to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Reacting to Rizvi’s remarks, Shia clerics demanded his arrest for trying to communalise the atmosphere.
President of Shia Ulema Council, Maulana Iftekhar Hussain Inquilabi, alleged, "Rizvi is a criminal involved in grabbing and illegal selling of Waqf properties."
"He has been chargesheeted by the CB-CID and to save himself from the law he is enacting a big drama," he told PTI.
"During the rule of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, he was patronised by Mulayam Singh Yadav and the then minister Azam Khan. Now, during the BJP government, he wants to be spared," Inquilabi claimed.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)