Move afoot to isolate Sunni Waqf Board-Oct 9, 2010,

Move afoot to isolate Sunni Waqf Board

Manjari Mishra, TNN, Oct 9, 2010, 03.00am IST


LUCKNOW: With UP Sunni Central Waqf Board proving to be the proverbial hard nut to crack, mediators working on a compromise formula in Ayodhya now plan to shift focus on eight other Muslim litigants who are party to the title suit. Simultaneously, Nirmohi Akhara and Hashim Ansari continued their efforts to work out a compromise formula, the blueprint of which is likely to be ready by month-end.

"All the eight litigants are residents of Ayodhya and well-heeled. They, therefore, wield enormous clout in the community and, more importantly, are eager to put an end to the dispute. The strategy aims at isolating the Sunni board to make it more receptive to a compromise bid," one of the main mediators told TOI on Friday.

Suit no 4 filed in 1961 in Faizabad district court has six more plaintiffs, apart from Sunni Waqf Board — Hafiz Mohammad Siddiqui, Misbahuddin, Maulana Mahfoozur Rahman, Mehmood Ahmad, Farooque Ahmad and Hashim Ansari. Barring Hafiz Siddiqui, general secretary of Jamiatul Ulema-i-Hind, who is a resident of Moradabad, the remaining belong to Faizabad/ Ayodhya.

Similarly, suit No 3, filed in 1959 by Nirmohi Akhara, has three Muslim defendants — Haji Mehboob, Haji Abdul Ahmed and Mohammad Farooque Ahmad. All three are residents of Ayodhya/Faizabad.
"Efforts are underway to convince them to join the negotiations and we can see definite headway," sources said. "If won over, the group would be useful in boosting our bargaining power with the Sunni Waqf Board. The board would then be under pressure to come to the negotiating table," he said.


Read more: Move afoot to isolate Sunni Waqf Board - The Times of India