Ayodhya mosque trust disbands committees amid fund crunch, focuses on FCRA clearances

Lucknow: The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), established by the Sunni Central Waqf Board to oversee the construction of the Dhannipur mosque in Ayodhya, has dissolved four committees, including one dedicated to the shrine's development. This decision aims to accelerate resource mobilisation for the project, which is currently facing a significant funding shortfall.

The resolution was reached during a meeting chaired by IICF chief trustee and Sunni Central Waqf Board chairman Zufar Faruqi in Lucknow on Thursday, as reported by PTI.

The IICF is now prioritising "better coordination" and expediting the acquisition of mandatory clearances under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA). Securing these clearances will enable the trust to solicit donations from the community abroad, according to trust members.

The IICF members admitted that it is "rather embarrassing" that only about "Rs 1 crore have been raised in the last four years", since a five-acre plot was allotted in Dhannipur village of Ayodhya district in Uttar Pradesh as the new site for a mosque that was pulled down by a mob on December 6, 1992.

"The trust furnished all necessary details in this regard to the Centre in March and now the entire focus is on speeding up the mosque-construction project by securing the necessary clearances," IICF secretary Athar Husain told PTI.

The committees that have been disbanded are the administrative committee, the finance committee, the development committee -- Masjid Muhammad Bin Abdullah -- and the media and publicity committee.

No reason was assigned for the move, but the IICF members said the decision is aimed at ensuring "better focus" on securing the clearances so that the mosque-construction project that has virtually been in limbo takes off.

After a hotly-contested and prolonged legal battle, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on November 9, 2019 handed over a 2.77-acre land, which was at the centre of a long legal scrutiny, to a trust for the construction of a Ram temple at the site and allotted five acres of land at a "prominent site" in Ayodhya for the mosque.

Ever since, a grand Ram temple has come up at Ram Janmabhoomi and the deity has been consecrated at an impressive ceremony on January 22, 2024, whereas the mosque-construction project has been hit by a severe fund crunch. PTI