In November last year, the Supreme Court had paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site at Ayodhya
In accordance with the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case, the Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday allotted a 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for the construction of a new mosque in Ayodhya district.
UP Cabinet Minister Shrikant Sharma said the land was in Dhannipur village along the Lucknow-Ayodhya highway, about 18 kilometres from the district headquarters. He said the area was good not just from a connectivity point of view, but also communal harmony and law and order.
Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet approved the formation of a trust for the construction of a Ram Temple on the 67 acres of disputed land. Announcing the decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sporting a saffron muffler in the Lok Sabha, said the government was moving forward with ‘sabka sath sabka vikas’ policy so that everyone was happy. The trust, named as Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Shetra, will include 15 trustees of which one will always be from the Dalit society. It will have complete autonomy over the temple, and the 67 acres which will be transferred to it.
The Centre’s decision too is as per orders from the Supreme Court. The government had until February 9, 2020 — three months from the apex court’s verdict — to form the Trust.
In November last year, the Supreme Court had paved the way for the construction of a Ram Temple by a trust at the disputed site at Ayodhya and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5 acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a “prominent” place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.