Construction of Ayodhya mosque to begin by November-end this year

The site in Dhannipur village. File

The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) on Tuesday said construction of a mosque and other public utilities on a five-acre land in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village would begin by November-end. The land was registered in the name of IICF on Monday.

IICF spokesperson and secretary Athar Hussain told The Indian Express that a hospital on the land may be built in two years. “We have asked Professor S M Akhtar (the dean of Jamia Millia Islamia’s Architecture Department) to send the construction design as soon as possible. We are in a bit of a hurry for construction of the hospital. We have a time frame in mind regarding the hospital that it will be ready within two years. We are in touch with consultants as we will require several clearances for the hospital, and it will take time… We will need to figure out technicalities regarding the mosque, which can only be started once the design from Professor Akhtar comes,” said Hussain.

IICF hopes that Akhtar will submit the design of the complex in the “next seven-ten days”. Hussain said they would first focus on getting paperwork and other formalities completed for the hospital.

The five-acre land was allotted to the Sunni Waqf Board to build a mosque in accordance with last year’s Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. In July, the board set up IICF to oversee construction. Along with the mosque, a hospital, an Indo-Islamic Research Centre and a community kitchen will be built at the site. The research centre will comprise a library and a museum.

The land was registered in the presence of Sunni Waqf Board chairman Zufar Farooqui and IICF founder trustee Mohammad Shuaib on Monday.

“A supplementary deed was made where the five-acre land was transferred to IICF,” said Hussain.

Sohawal sub-registrar Mahendra Partap Mishra said that on the basis of the official evaluation of the land, its estimated cost was Rs 1.54 crore. “Stamps worth Rs 7.74 lakh were attached in the paperwork for the transfer of the land from the Sunni Waqf Board to IICF. Registry fees of Rs 1.54 lakh were also paid,” said Mishra.

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