Lucknow: Zafaryab Jilani, the counsel for the Sunni Central Waqf Board and convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC), has challenged the claim of Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy, a self-claimed descendent of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, to the Babri mosque.
Mr Tucy, 42, has claimed that he should be appointed “mutawalli (caretaker)” of the demolished Babri mosque in Ayodhya because of his lineage.
He has also challenged Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Syed Waseem Rizvi’s ownership claim of the Babri Masjid.
Mr Jilani said on Wednesday that the Babri Masjid is the property of Allah under the trusteeship of the Sunni Waqf Board and does not belong to any “badshah”.
Mr Jilani said that after the death of the last mutawalli, Jawad Hussain, a managing committee, including eminent persons of Faizabad, has been managing the affairs.
“There is just no vacancy at the moment. In any case the written haqnama of the masjid does not mention any such claim,” he pointed out.
Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy, who claims to be a “DNA-proven descendant” of Bahadur Shah Zafar, had met Uttar Pradesh minister for minorities’ welfare Chaudhary Laxmi Narain on Tuesday to stake his right to be appointed mutawalli (caretaker) of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
Mr Tucy said that he would visit Ayodhya to meet the petitioners of the title suit to work out some formula before the Supreme Court commences hearing in the matter on December 2.
He said he would work towards a mutually agreeable solution to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janamb-hoomi problem.
