Jamia Millia professor to design mosque in Ayodhya's Dhannipur

Jamia Milia Professor SM Akhtar has been given the task to design the mosque to be built in Ayodhya's Dhannipur. Akhtar has been appointed as consultant architect by IICF trust.

New Delhi: Professor SM Akhtar, Head, Faculty of Architecture, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University has been appointed as the consultant architect for the mosque to be built in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village by the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) trust.

Akhtar, the Head of the Department of Architecture at Jamia Millia Islamia here, said, "Over 1,000 architects have been my students and are spread across the globe, and they can collaborate with me. The option to work on this project will be open for my current students also as it will be a learning experience for them."

Akhtar has designed the university's computer centre, its hospital and even the architecture building and has also worked with the Delhi government for drawing up local area plans.

He has been consultant for the UNDP-sponsored programme ''Capacity Development of Urban Local Bodies''.

Akhtar said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he would not be able to visit Ayodhya right now, but added that he had visited the site earlier and was "aware of the place".

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board had created the IICF, a 15-member trust, for building a mosque and other facilities on the land allotted in Ayodhya by the Uttar Pradesh Government on the Supreme Court's instructions.

In the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid land case, the Supreme Court had, on November 9 last year, directed the Central government to hand over the site at Ayodhya for the construction of a temple and set up a trust for the same.

The apex court had further directed the government to allocate an alternative five acres of land at a prominent location in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque to the Sunni Waqf Board. In February, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board accepted the five acres of land provided for construction of the mosque in Ayodhya.

Apart from this, the Trust will also construct a charitable hospital, public library and a centre showcasing the heritage of Indo-Islamic civilisation which will also serve as a research and study centre for the same, according to a press release by the Board.

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After a protracted legal tussle, the Supreme Court had on November 9 last year ruled in favour of the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.

The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992 by ''kar sevaks'' who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood at the same site.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ''bhoomi pujan'' ceremony to begin the construction of the Ram Temple on August 5.

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With agency inputs