Muslim Board demands judicial inquiry into Varanasi blasts

Bangalore, Mar 8 (UNI) The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) today condemned the serial blasts at Varanasi and demanded that the Centre order a judicial inquiry into the incident.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Board's Executive Meeting, its General Secretary Moulana Syed Nizamuddin said the Board would send a delegation to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and submit a memorandum pressing its demand He said the Executive Meeting also discussed threadbare the Centre's proposal to make registration of marriages mandatory and decided to set up Sub-Committee to study the proposal. The practice of registering marriages was in vogue in Islam and it was done in the presence of a Quazi, he added.

Asked about setting up of 'Darol Khazua,' (Religious Courts), he said such courts had been functioning in the state from time immemorial. However, it could not be construed as parallel judicial authorities, he added.

On Babri Masjid dispute, he said the issue was likely to be settled by the Apex Court by 2007.

He announced that the Board's General Body would be held at Chennai in August.

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