Maulana Salman Hussaini Nadwi: How can AIMPLB sack me when I had already quit?

MUMBAI: After being sacked by AIMPLB+ for suggesting the Babri masjid be shifted from the disputed site in Ayodhya to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi row, Maulana Salman Hussaini Nadwi spoke to Yusra Husain on his future plans:
Were you expelled from All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) or did you quit as its executive member, following your stand to compromise on the Ayodhya dispute?

At the first meeting of the board in Hyderabad on February 9 (a day after I held talks with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for an out-of-court settlement), I was not allowed to keep my point across fully and in the manner that I wanted, which is when I made up my mind to get away from the board. I had by then also told the media in Hyderabad about my decision to quit. Today, AIMPLB is saying that it has sacked me. When I had already quit, how can the board sack me?

What was your point of disagreement with the board? What were you trying to propose for Ayodhya?

For the past 25 years, the court has not been able to decide anything in the case. Even if it does so now, it will hurt one of the communities involved. I want peace and unity in the country and believe that it is only possible when the matter is settled out of court. Why are we fighting for a piece of land and for a structure and not for compensation to those who were affected in the riots that followed

the Babri Masjid demolition? The board has been overpowered by hardliners and nobody ever said anything when the idols were placed inside the mosque in 1949 or when the locks were reopened by Rajiv Gandhi and when the riots took place.

What are your proposals for an out-of-court settlement?

I have been a theology teacher for the past 40 years and it is by Islamic law that I am proposing a way out of the issue. If Islam gives the provision to move the mosque, why should we not do so for larger peace? In return we ask for an SC guarantee that all other Islamic religious sites will not be interfered with after this compromise and compensation would be given to people affected in the Babri riots.

Why were this issue and the proposals not raised by you before?

I have always been raising this issue with the board but my point was ignored. I had even asked for a committee to be formed by theboard to speak to Hindu organisations and hardliners for an amicable settlement, but that was not given any weight. Now that Sri Sri has started pushing for such talks, I agreed to meet.