A day after the foundation stone for a Ram temple was laid in Ayodhya, the president of the All India Imam Association made a provocative statement on Thursday.
Sajid Rashidi suggested that a mosque will be built after demolishing the temple while asserting that the Babri Masjid was not built after demolishing a temple at the disputed site.
“Islam says a mosque will always be a mosque. It can’t be broken to build something else. We believe it was, and always will be a mosque. Mosque wasn’t built after demolishing temple but now maybe temple will be demolished to build a mosque,” Sajid Rashidi was quoted as saying.
The Maulana further suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had violated the Constitution by attending the Ram temple ground-breaking event at Ayodhya.
Islam says a mosque will always be a mosque. It can't be broken to build something else. We believe it was, and always will be a mosque. Mosque wasn't built after demolishing temple but now maybe temple will be demolished to build mosque: Sajid Rashidi, Pres, All India Imam Assn pic.twitter.com/DzlbYQ3qdm
— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2020
It may be recalled that the Bhoomi pujan of the Ram temple, which will come up at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in the temple town of Ayodhya, was held yesterday in the presence of PM Modi.
The temple will be constructed in about three years’ time and will come up where the Babri Masjid once stood.
The Supreme Court of India had in November last year ruled in the decades-long Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. The court awarded the disputed 2.77-acre land to the deity, Ram Lalla Virajmaan while instructing the Centre to form a trust to oversee construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
