The chairman of UP Shia Central Waqf Board has asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to return nine mosques allegedly built on lands on which once stood Hindu temples.

According to reports, Syed Wasim Rizvi has written a letter to the AIMPLB asking them to return the lands to the Hindus. He argued that the nine mosques were built by Mughal emperors by razing the temples.

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The nine mosques listed by him include Ayodhya’s Babri mosque, Adina Mosque in Pandua West Bengal and Mosque Kuvutul Islam at Qutub Minar in Delhi.

Rizvi argued that Islam doesn’t permit prayers in mosques built by forcibly demolishing other places of worship.

According to The Pioneer, Rizvi asks, “Does Islam permit the construction of mosques at the site of religious places of other faiths in a multi-religious country? Will such mosques be rightful places of worship as per basic tenets of Islam?’’

Rizvi also reportedly wrote that he does not expect the AIMPLB to accept his suggestion because the NGO is “dominated by extremists”.

In response, Zafaryab Jilani, convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC), drew attention to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which states that the character of the places of worship as they were on the day of Independence will continue to remain so.

According to the Act, “the religious character of a place of worship existing on the 15th day of August, 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day.”