‘Won’t accept anything named after Babur in Ayodhya’: Yogi Adityanath’s minister Mohsin Raza

Uttar Pradesh minister Mohsin Raza has suggested to name the proposed mosque in Ayodhya after Prophet Muhammad instead of Babur.

Ayodhya mosque: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Uttar Pradesh minister Mohsin Raza has suggested that the proposed mosque at Dhannipur village in Ayodhya should be named after Prophet Muhammad instead of Mughal emperor Babur. Raza who is MoS for Minority Welfare, Muslim Waqf and Hajj in the Yogi Adityanath government, said that the government will not accept anything named after Babur not just in Ayodhya but anywhere in India.

“We, the government, have given the land to the Sunni Waqf Board on the direction of the Supreme Court. I would, however, like to say that we will not accept anything named after Babur in Ayodhya or anywhere else in the country,” Raza said in a video statement released on Sunday.

He suggested that the way the Ram temple is being built in Ayodhya, the same way, in Muslim community, “Muhammad sahib has a great place and everyone recites a kalma in his name, and he is respected by people from other religions and known for his humanity”.

“We would suggest that the Sunni Waqf Board name the mosque Masjid-e-Mohammad. This will send a big message not only in India but also the world, and everyone will accept it,” he said.

Speaking to The Indian Express later, Raza said that he made the suggestion as a Muslim and not as a minister.

“The final decision will be taken by the board, but I have given my suggestion,” he said.

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board has set up the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation to oversee the construction of a mosque on a five-acre land in Ayodhya. Besides a mosque, two centres to showcase Indo-Islamic culture and study, a charitable hospital, and a public library would come up on the plot.

While ruling in the favour of Ram Lalla in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit, the Supreme Court had ordered the government to provide a piece of land measuring five acres at a prominent location in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque. The Uttar Pradesh government then allotted a five-acre land in Dhannipur village in Sohaval Tehsil of Ayodhya.

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board was one of the main litigants in the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid case.