NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board on Friday told the Supreme Court that it wants to settle the Ayodhya dispute peacefully and is willing to donate one-third of the land granted to Muslims by the Allahabad High Court to Hindus for building the Ram temple.
Shia Waqf Board told the apex court that in order to maintain unity, peace and goodwill in the country, it is in favour of giving the land.
The court is hearing an appeal whether the Ayodhya matter should be heard by the larger Constitution Bench.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the legal heirs of M Siddiq told a three judge Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that, "The Babri Masjid was destroyed by the Hindu Taliban just like the demolition of the Buddha statue by the Taliban at Bamiyan in Afghanistan. Islam says mosques are integral to faith. Hadith says this, but the Supreme Court says it was not integral to Islam."
Dhavan also questioned the locus of the Shia Central Waqf Board in the case and said that the Shia Board's argument that it wanted to donate a share of the land to the Hindu group was like indulging in a non-existent act of charity.
He also questioned the intervention of an Additional Solicitor General, who appearing for Uttar Pradesh government, said that arguments by the law officer were uncalled for.
Earlier, Hindu groups had opposed the plea of Muslims that the 1994 verdict holding that a mosque was not integral to namaz be referred to a larger Bench.
The SC is hearing 13 appeals filed against 2010 judgment of the Allahabad HC that mandated a three-way division of the disputed site in Ayodhya.