The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) has announced that the construction work of the Ayodhya mosque, based out of Dhannipur in Uttar Pradesh, will begin after the flag hoisting ceremony on Republic Day. Reportedly, along with the mosque, the IICF will also be constructing a hospital, museum, library, community kitchen, publication house and the Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre in the allotted five-acre plot. Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board constituted the IICF for the same purpose.
The mosque will be built on a 15,000-square-foot land — the same size as the demolished Babri Masjid — and the architects have seemingly decided to follow the design of Kaaba in Mecca for the new construct. Last year, during an IICF presentation, the first pictures of the design for the Ayodhya mosque and hospital project were released. The IICF informed that in the first phase, a hospital would be built behind the mosque and the same would be expanded in the second phase.
During the presentation, the IICF said that the name of the mosque hasn’t been decided and assured that it will not be named after any former king or emperor. Jamia Millia Islamia architecture professor SM Akthar unveiled the project design at the IICF office in Lucknow on December 19. When the news of the Ayodhya mosque broke out, many social media users, irrespective of religion, were in awe of the futuristic design. However, many praised the trust’s initiative to build a hospital with the mosque.
On November 9, 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously announced a verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case. The Court gave the undisputed site of 2.27 acres to a trust, constituted by the Government of India to build the Ram temple.
The Court also directed the government to give five acres of land to the UPSCWB to build a mosque, which will replace the demolished Babri Masjid. The Court, in its verdict, said that the demolition of Babri Masjid and the 1949 desecration of the mosque violated the law. On December 12, 2019, the SC dismissed all petitions seeking a review of the November 9 verdict.
