Construction of new mosque at Ayodhya to begin soon as ADA gives final nod

Nearly fours years after the Supreme Court of India awarded the disputed Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land to the Hindu side and offered the Muslim side an alternate location to build a new mosque, the construction of Dhannipur mosque will begin soon.

The Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has given the final clearance for the construction of Dhannipur mosque as mandated by the Supreme Court in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi verdict.

A mosque, a hospital, a research institute, a community kitchen and a library are to be constructed by the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) trust on five acres of land given by the Uttar Pradesh government.

The construction was delayed for over two years due to pending clearance and matters of change of land use by the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA).

"We have approved the project of Ayodhya mosque in the board meeting held on Friday. The sanctioned maps will be handed over to the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) after a few departmental formalities which are to be completed within a couple of days," Gaurav Dayal, Ayodhya Divisional Commissioner, told PTI.

IICF secretary Athar Hussain said the trust will hold a meeting after all the clearances are made and finalise the plan for the construction of the mosque. "The meeting of the trust will be held after Ramzan that ends on April 21. The date to begin the construction work of the mosque will be finalised in that meeting," he said.

"We laid the foundation of the mosque on January 26, 2021. We chose that day because on this day, India's Constitution came into effect more than seven decades ago," he said.

"The Dhannipur mosque will be bigger than the Babri Masjid. It will not be modelled on the structure which once stood in Ayodhya," Hussain told PTI.

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The Dhannipur mosque site is about 22 km away from the venue of the Ram temple in the pilgrim town.

In a historic judgment on November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the construction of a Ram temple at a disputed site in Ayodhya and asked the government to allocate five acres of land for the construction of the mosque at a prominent place in the district.

The IICF trust, constituted for the construction of the mosque, announced its plans to build a hospital, a community kitchen, a library and a research institute, along with the mosque.

Hussain said the upcoming hospital will serve humanity in the true spirit of Islam as taught by the Prophet 1,400 years ago.

"The hospital won't be the usual concrete structure, but will be in sync with the architecture of the mosque, replete with calligraphy and Islamic symbols, " he said.

While the hospital will treat the sick and infirm, the community kitchen will feed the hungry, blurring barriers of religion, caste and creed. The green belt at the site will create awareness on climate change and the research institute will study the contribution of Muslims in the freedom struggle and the legacy of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood which helped India attain independence," the IICF secretary added.

Meanwhile, the construction of Ram temple in the city is in full swing.

Officials of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust which is undertaking the temple construction, have claimed that the temple will open for devotees in January, 2024.

The country will face its next general elections in the same year.