LUCKNOW: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) seems to be making up its mind for a mutually negotiated solution to the vexed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s suggestion to both communities and the stakeholders involved to try and find an out-of-court settlement for the dispute.
AIMPLB is contemplating a final call on the SC-suggested proposition on the temple issue during the two-day meeting of its working committee in Lucknow from April 15. If the board will be able to evolve a consensus over the issue, then the modalities to approach it would be found, said a senior AIMPLB member.
Incidentally, noted Shia cleric and senior vice-president of AIMPLB, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, reportedly said on Tuesday that the Muslim community should let the Hindus build a temple at the disputed site. “Muslims should not respond to the proposed Ram temple by constructing a mosque there. They should rather respond to it by nation building,” said Maulana Kalbe Sadiq at a function in Ferozabad on Tuesday. He also said the dispute should end now.
However, AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Wali Rehmani said that the board would look for ways for out of court negotiations “as the issue is very crucial for Muslims.”
This is the first time the board has listed the issue of negotiated settlements on its agenda for the working committee meeting to be held at Nadwatul Ulema.
The second most important issue on the 15-point agenda is triple talaq. The board is expected to discuss the initiatives taken to tackle the menace of triple talaq, and also the latest submissions by AIMPLB before the Supreme Court on the issue. It will also start an anti-talaq drive to convince community members that talaq should be the last resort to end a marital relationship.
During the campaign, it will flag the point that triple talaq in one sitting should only be opted for the rarest of rare cases where immediate separation is necessary.
“A very small section of minority community practices triple talaq in one sitting and the board has already launched an awareness campaign to educate people against it,” said prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq.
The Board had recently launched a signature campaign seeking Musim women’s opinion on triple talaq, and the AIMPLB’s women’s wing will give a presentation on the response of the signature campaign at the working committee meeting.