As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the pran pratishtha of the murti of Lord Ram in the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in January next year, several Muslim leaders have now requested PM Modi to lay the foundation of the mosque in Dhannipur village when he visits Ayodhya on 22nd January 2024.
Jamiat-i-Ulama Hind president at Ayodhya, Mufti Hisbullah Badshah Khan said that PM Modi is the prime minister of not just Hindus but also of the Muslim community in India. He asserted that when the prime minister is coming to inaugurate the temple of Hindus then he should also lay the foundation stone of the mosque.
“Modi is India’s PM. He is for Hindus and Muslims both. If he is coming to inaugurate the ‘ibadatgaah’ (place of worship) of Hindu brothers, then he should also lay the foundation for the masjid,” Mufti Hisbullah said.
Meanwhile, Athar Husain, the secretary of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation, the Ayodhya Masjid Trust said that the trust would welcome PM Modi if comes to lay the foundation stone of the mosque in Dhannipur village in Sohawal block nearly 20-25 km away from the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Temple.
“We wanted to build a free cancer hospital, a mosque, a community kitchen and a research centre dedicated to Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah Faizabadi, the hero of the 1857 freedom struggle. The PM’s presence can serve our goal. We will welcome him,” Husain said.
“Modi is not the PM of any particular community,” former Ayodhya litigant Iqbal Ansari stated. “He is doing everything for the temple; he should do the same for the masjid.”
Ansari also expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of the mosque’s construction, stating that while Lord Ram’s idol is scheduled to be installed in the temple in January, the mosque’s foundation stone has yet to be laid. He further asserted that the trustees of the Ayodhya Masjid Trust should be replaced.
Mohammad Ismail Ansari, President of the Indian Muslim League expressed his “heartfelt wish” to inaugurate the Dhannipur Mosque also.
Essentially, the Muslim side’s insistance that PM Modi inaugurate a mosque after the Pran Pratishtha as well seems to stem out of their insistance that the Prime Minister has to prove his ‘secular’ credentials by inaugurating a mosque as well.
Notably, on 25th October, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the inauguration of Ram Mandir. The temple trust also announced that the consecration of the Shri Vigraha of Lord Shri Ramlala Sarkar at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya will be done by PM Modi on January 22 next year.
As reported earlier, the Mandir trust has decided to commence the consecration of Ram Lalla after Makar Sankranti on January 14, and it will be followed by the 10-day ritual of ‘Pran Pratishtha’ (blessing) of Ram Lalla. According to the Chief Priest of Ram Mandir, Acharya Satyendra Das Ji Maharaj, the rituals will be held from January 15 to January 24.
