Ayodhya: Sunni Board in India won't file review; dissent prevails

The UP Sunni Waqf Board will not challenge the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. A decision to this effect was taken at a stormy meeting of the Board held here on Tuesday which was attended by seven members.

Six members were unanimous in their opinion that no review petition should be filed, but the seventh member, Abdul Razzaq, struck a discordant note when he said that a petition should be filed. He was overruled by the other members.

Razzaq, later termed, the Board's decision as "ridiculous".

Those present in the meeting included Board chairman Zufar Faruqi, Adnan Farooque Shah, Khushnood Miyan, Junaid Siddiqui, Mohammed Junaid, Mohammed Abrar Ahmad and Abdul Razzaq who left the meeting midway.

The Sunni Waqf Board was one of the main litigants in the Ayodhya case.

Board chairman, Zufar Faruqi, has been in the eye of the storm ever since he said that no review petition would be filed on the Ayodhya issue after the Supreme Court announced its verdict on November 9 in which the disputed land was given for Ram temple and a five-acre plot of land was to be given to Muslims for the mosque.

Several leaders questioned his decision that was announced without a meeting of the board. Zufar Faruqi told reporters that no decision was taken by the Board on whether the offer of five-acre land should be accepted or not.

"The members said the issue would be taken up at another meeting after the government gave a concrete offer of the land," he said.

Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has already said that it will file a review petition.

The AIMPLB is also against accepting an alternative site to replace the demolished mosque.

• India