Express News Service
LUCKNOW: With the unfurling of tricolour at the five acre stretch in Dhannipur village in Ayodhya district, the project involving the construction of mosque and other facilities took off on Tuesday, the Republic Day.
The occasion was marked also by planting of nine plant saplings by Zufur Farooqui, chairman of Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) and its other members, including IICF vice president Adnan Farooq, secretary Athar Hissain, Imran Ahmad, Dr Sheikh Saudujjama and Moahmmad Rashid. Dhannipur village head Meraz Ahmad Khan was also present. IICF is the body constituted by Sunni Central Waqf Board to take care of the mosque project at Dhannipur village under Sohawal Tehsil in Ayodhya district.
IICF chief Zufar Farooqui planted a tamarind sapling to start the project in a simple ceremony. Prominent among those present on the occasion included the members of Rashtriya Muslim Manch, a wing of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), to be a part of the ceremony.
The project comprises facilities including a superspeciality hospital, a library, a Indo-Islamic Cultural Complex, a museum and a community kitchen besides the mosque to be built on five acre land in Dhannipur, 25 km away from Ram Janmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya, allocated by the UP government to UP Sunni Central Waqf Board in compliance of the Supreme Court order delivered on November 9, 2019.
The project is likely to be completed in two and a half years time. The general secretary of IICF, Athar Hussain, told the media persons that the mosque complex would be dedicated to the humanity. However, the soil testing ahead of the project construction was started by Gunjan Soil Testing Company from Monday. Soil samples were collected from three identified location on the five acre stretch.
As per the IICF sources, the foundation decided to get the soil tested before moving ahead with the foundation work of the mosque complex. The report of the soil samples collected on Monday was expected in 15-days time, said Devdhar Yadav, the supervisor of the soil testing firm. He shared that the soil of various levels starting from 50 cm to 20 ft deep would be tested. During the tests, water level and the presence of soils salts would also be evaluated. After the soil testing, the map of the Dhannipur mosque would be presented to the Ayodhya Vikas Pradhikaran for their approval. The sources of the IICFclaimed that the map was being readied in Delhi.
According to IICF general secretary Athar Hussain, the foundation would not launch any door-to-door drive to collect the funds for the mosque complex. The IIFC would not accept the cash money as well. Funds would be taken directly in the account of the foundation. Two local residents – Rajesh Kumar Singh and Sunit Sengar donated cheque Rs 11,000 each to the chairman of IICF for the Foundation.
Meanwhile, the mosque which will be built on the land in lieu of Babri Masjid as mandated by the Supreme Court is likely to be dedicated to Ahmadullah Shah, who had earned the moniker of ‘Awadh’s Lighthouse of Rebellion’ during the first war of independence against the British in 1857.
As per the sources in IIFC, the foundation was seriously contemplating on the proposal to dedicate the Ayodhya mosque project to the great freedom fighter Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah. Earlier, the trust had taken an in principle decision not to attach the name of any Mughal emperor with the mosque. IICF had reiterated at the launch of the mosque blueprint in December last year that the project would imbibe modernity, break away from the past and mirror the future in true spirit of Islam.
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