The Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992 (Image Source PTI)

Shia Waqf Board chief Syed Wasim Rizvi on Wednesday said that Pakistan has been playing a major role in causing delay to the solution of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Rizvi said that Pakistan has been directly involved from the beginning and this is one of the reasons why there has been no resolution to the issue till now. Rizvi said that far bigger demonstrations were held in Pakistan than in India when the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992. Many temples were also attacked in Pakistan and this shows how major is Pakistan’s involvement in the issue. He added that in 2005, terrorists targeted a makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The remarks came just two days after the Shia Central Waqf Board released a draft on the resolution of the Ayodhya dispute, in which it argued that Ram Mandir should be built at the disputed property while a mosque should come up in Lucknow.

Shia Central Waqf Board has written to the Uttar Pradesh government for allotting land in Lucknow for the mosque. The draft, which was released by Rizvi and the priest of All India Akhara Council, Narendra Giri, was submitted to the Supreme Court. Rizvi also said that the name of the mosque should not be after an emperor but should be called Mosque of Peace or “Aman ki Masjid”. He added that this solution would bring peace and brotherhood in the country.

Rizvi along with some Mahants from Ayodhya will approach the apex court before December 5 with a solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute. Rizvi said the Board had written to the Uttar Pradesh government for granting land to Shia Muslims at a designated place for the mosque, which the board would construct through a committee by raising money at its level. The Supreme Court would now decide on the draft. He added that Waqf would not stake any claim to the disputed Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid property and would not have any issue if Hindus built a temple there.

The Supreme Court had suggested that an out-of-court settlement was the best recourse in the dispute. The top court will start the final hearing of the long-standing matter from December 5, a day before the 25th anniversary of the demolition of the structure.

On November 15, Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik hoped efforts to resolve the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute would bear fruit, but emphasised that the decision of the apex court would be binding. Ram Naik made these comments in the wake of meeting between Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.