LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, proposing that the Humayun's tomb in Delhi be removed from the 'national heritage list', demolished and turned into a graveyard for Muslims.
"The board proposes to remove Humayun's tomb from the national heritage list and its building be razed and it be declared a graveyard for Muslims of New Delhi. It did not fetch any income for the government and lakhs of rupees have been spent on its maintenance.
"The money should be spent on development and not for preserving tomb of cruel kings who looted the country," Chairman, Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board (UPSCWB), Wasim Rizvi said in the letter written on October 18.
The board's proposal will benefit lakhs of Muslims, who are facing difficulty in finding a graveyard. If the proposal is accepted, the Muslims in Delhi will not face any space crunch to bury the dead for the next 100 years, he said.
"The tomb is spaced over 35 acres. There is no place of worship and as there is grave, it can be declared as a graveyard," the letter said.
"Mughal rulers were not preachers of Muslim faith and were also not good kings. Their graves cannot be considered as national heritage," Rizvi contended.
The Board was requested by the All India Raabta-e-Masajid and Madaris-e-Islamia, Delhi, for providing land in Uttar Pradesh for graveyards for Muslims of Delhi, he said, adding the proposal to the prime minister was sent as there is "no land left in UP limits that can be given for graveyard for people of Delhi."