Chairman of the Shia Wakf Board Wasim Rizvi has written to the president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) asking for mosques built atop destroyed temples to be returned back to Hindus.
The letter was shared by journalist Rohit Sardana on Twitter:
In his letter, Rizvi reminds the AIMPLB of the temples that were destroyed during Mughal rule. He then highlighted that worship of Allah in mosques built over destroyed temples is not permissible.
He then lists out mosques which were either affected or were a result of the plundering by erstwhile Islamic rulers. Among the mosques listed are the Ram mandir in Ayodhya, Keshav Dev mandir in Mathura Atala Dev mandir in Jaunpur and Kashi Vishwanath mandir in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the Rudra Mahalaya mandir in Jila Batna, Bhadrakali mandir in Ahmedabad and the Adeena masjid in Pandua, Gujarat, the Vijaya mandir in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh and the Masjid Quwwatul Islam in the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi.
Rizvi asked the Sunni board to take a decision regarding the proposal. He remarked that if the muslims of India returned these places to Hindus, it would also show the world about the true objectives and the true values of Islam. He asserted that he was writing to them because every Maulvi was a member of their organisation and they are all well aware of the principles of Islam.
Terming the AIMPLB a non-governmental organisation (NG) filled with extremists, he then asked them to answer one question:
Do principles of Islam allow a king to snatch the places of worship of another religion and build mosques via force?
It remains to be seen whether the AIMPLB responds to Rizvi’s letter.