The Shia Waqf board chief, Wasim Rizvi, who has always been controversial among Islamic clerics, has yet again come up with a statement which will presumably not be very well received by his community.
In a controversial statement, as reported by Zeenews, the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chief has addressed the Babri Masjid and blamed it of being a ‘blot to the country‘. He said that it is a crime to call “that blot as a mosque“.
Wasim Rizvi, who has been batting for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya for quite some time, pointed out that during the excavation, a square made of bricks was found at the bottom of the 50 pillars of the temple in Ayodhya. A total of 265 old remnants of the temple were found on the basis of which the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had reached the decision that a temple was buried underneath the Babri Masjid.
Rizvi reiterated that there should be an agreement and the right to build a Ram temple should be returned to the Hindus while the Muslims should build a new mosque in Lucknow.
He wrapped up by affirming that at the backdrop of such a scenario, calling Babri, a masjid will be unjust and against the principles of Islam. “There is still time the ‘mullas’ of Babri should accept their mistakes and accept the preachings of Prophet Mohammed,” he said.
Rivzi had earlier to contend on the same lines saying that, “There was never a mosque on that site in Ayodhya and there can never be a mosque there. It is the birthplace of Lord Ram and only a Ram temple will be built. Sympathisers of Babar are destined to lose.”
This isn’t the only time Wasim Rizvi is in the news for his statements. Last year as well the Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh had told the apex court that it was willing to build a mosque in a Muslim-dominated area, at an equitable distance from the Ram Janmabhoomi site. This pro-Ram Mandir stance of Rizvi was in line with the Shia Wakf Board’s deportment that Ram Mandir be constructed at the Janambhoomi area.
In fact, at the beginning of 2018, Rizvi in one of his statements had urged the Muslims who were opposing Ram Mandir to go back to Pakistan.
Wasim Rivzi has by now managed to constitute a troop of nitpickers from his own community lobbying against him for his bona fide opinions.
It was reported how he urged PM Modi to shut down Madrasas by claiming that they are a breeding ground for terrorists. This angered a few radical Muslims who then proceeded to put a Rs 10 lakh bounty on his head for his statement.
Rizvi has been critical of ‘extremist’ Sunnis and has claimed in the past that they are propagating radicalism in India. Recently, in a video, he had criticised fundamentalists for trying to spread radicalism in India and had added that Muslims who keep beard without a moustache are fundamentalists. In yet another statement he had called out on Muslims eating beef and stated that killing of cows is ‘haram’ (forbidden) in Islam and it should stop.
