A view of the site allotted for the construction of mosque at Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh. File
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
Members of the Indo-Islamic Culture Foundation (IICF) — the committee formed by the Sunni Central Waqf Board to manage the construction of the mosque in Ayodhya — are planning to request the Uttar Pradesh Government for a full waiver of the development charges they have to submit to the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) in order to secure approval for the mosque’s map.
The IICF has to reportedly submit approximately ₹10-12 crore as labour cess and development tax to secure final approval for the map, while the total funding the foundation has received for the mosque so far via crowdfunding is around ₹50 lakh.
An official of the IICF told The Hindu that fund-raising for the mosque had been stopped as continuous hurdles were being posed in the way of its construction.
Athar Husain Siddiqui, secretary, IICF, said that the committee was grateful to the State government, which has changed the land rules of the area in which the mosque is planned, easing the process for them.
“We were all set to apply for final approval of the map last month but when we approached the ADA for it, we were told that we had to submit some money as development and labour cess. When we enquired, it turned out to be a sum in many crores. At present, we are not in a position to deposit it, so we have decided to request to the State government to waive off the development charges. A letter for this will be sent to the State authorities by our president,” Mr. Siddiqui added.
A senior ADA official confirmed to The Hindu, “As soon as the IICF submits the map of the mosque for approval with the authority, our software would generate a form providing details of depositing development taxes (2-3% of the total cost of the project) and labour cess (1% of the project cost).”
According to the IIFC, the total cost of the three-phase mosque project is about ₹300 crore. The complex is spread across 4,500 square metres, and includes a hospital, community kitchen and library, and a research centre dedicated to Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah, a freedom fighter who took part in the 1857 War of Independence against the British. The blueprint of the mosque is designed by Professor S.M. Akhtar, Founding Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics at Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi.
ADA Secretary Satyendra Singh declined to comment on the matter when contacted. Mr. Singh reportedly maintains that the authority was ready to approve the map of the mosque within 24 hours if the IICF applied for it.
In November 2019, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court permitted the construction of a temple in Ayodhya, at the site where the 16th century Babri Masjid once stood, after it was brought down by Hindu fundamentalist groups. In the same order of over 1,000 pages, the top court had asked the government — either the Centre or the State — to allot a “prominent and suitable” five-acre plot in Ayodhya to the Sunni Central Wakf Board to construct a mosque. The apex court had particularly asked the government, both at the Centre and the State, to facilitate the construction of the mosque simultaneously with the temple.
At present, over 50% of the work for the Ram temple in Ayodhya has been completed. The authorities have also announced that ‘Pran Pratistha’ (installation of the deity) in the sanctum will take place on January 14, 2024. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Ayodhya temple trust have collected over ₹3,500 crore for the new temple.
But the mosque, which will now be constructed 25 km away from Ayodhya city, in an area known as Dhannipur, is still struggling with administrative hurdles.
“We know that there is no comparison of the mosque and the temple in this country but we were not aware that things would be so difficult for us,” an IIFC member said on condition of anonymity. He maintained that nothing had moved for the mosque in past three-and-a-half years, with delays over forms for land rules and taxes, and No Objection Certificates from different departments
“At present, the morale of the community is so disturbed that some suggestions received via letters and mails even ask us to shelve the project,” he added.