“We will accept final verdict, whichever way it goes”

[mey hoon DON]

New Delhi: Muslim groups, led by the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, will confer among themselves and study the three Ayodhya title suit judgments in detail, before filing an appeal in the Supreme Court.

But their first reaction to the judgment of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday was one of dismay. S.Q.R. Ilyas, convenor of the Committee on Babri Masjid in the AIMPLB, said his organisation was disappointed by the dismissal of the Sunni Central Wakf Board suit. He described the decision to allot a portion of land as a “sort of a balancing act” which would have been understandable had it come from the National Integration Council or any such body.

Mr. Ilyas pointed out that till 1949, Hindus had never made any direct claim on the Babri Masjid. The legal battle up to this point was restricted to the construction of the temple at the Ram chabutra. The argument that Ram was born at a precise point under the central dome of the mosque was made after the surreptitious installation of idols in 1949. He said a court of law had to go by facts and the fact was that a Masjid had stood at the spot for 350 years. “We are exercising our right to appeal but we will accept the final verdict of the apex court whichever way it goes.” All-India Milli Council general secretary Mohammad Manzoor Alam said the Court appeared to have decided the case more on faith than on facts and evidence. He nonetheless cautioned against any “adverse reaction”. Earlier in the day, Imam Umer Ahmad Ilyasi, president of the All-India Imams Organisation issued an appeal to the over five lakh imams of mosques all over India to pray for the welfare of the country and its people at the Friday prayers. Mr. Ilyasi told The Hindu that people had to be conscious of the changed circumstances and India's enhanced position in the comity of nations. “India is hosting the Common Wealth Games, our economic growth is impressive. The nation needs the people's support not division over an issue like this.”