By Mohd Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is facing financial crisis for filing appeals on Babri Masjid case with the Supreme Court. To overcome the crisis, it has issued a clarion call among the community for making generous donation to the board.
Responding to the call, Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi of Hyderbad has given a cheque of Rs 55.50 lakhs to the AIMPLB for meeting the expenses in filing the appeals. Already four appeals have been filed while the AIMPLB has plans to file five more appeals against the around 8600-page judgement of Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Ayodhya title suit delivered on September 30, 2010.
Asaduddin Owaisi
Confirming the news, Member, Executive Committee (EC) of AIMPLB and Convenor, legal cell, Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) in the board, Zafaryab Jilani admitted that Owaisi has donated the amount. “He informed us that Rs 50 lakhs has been collected from various units of his outfit MIM while the remaining Rs 5.50 lakh is one month’s salary of his legislators in Andhra Pradesh,” said Jilani.
Justifying the donation call, Jilani stated that AIMPLB does not have any source of income and runs only on donation. “It is another matter that this is the first time the donation call has been made at such a large scale among the community,” he said.
The donation call was made after the recent EC meet of the AIMPLB in Hyderabad on Sunday. The donations can be made by contacting any office bearer of the AIMPLB. “We will accept even small amount from the Muslims as we understand that the community is not so rich to make heavy donations. We respect their commitment towards the Babri Masjid issue and our responsibility in spearheading the case for rightful conclusion,” said Jilani.
Jilani stated that filing one appeal in the apex court costs around Rs 2.50 lakhs. Four appeals have been already filed while five more are planned. “We are filing numerous appeals because several senior counsels in Supreme Court are willing to fight the case for Muslims. We are thus filing nine appeals in the apex court,” said Jilani. Beside the filing costs, Jilani stated that the amount will be utilised for other miscellaneous expenses.
The AIMPLB, established on April 7, 1973, acts as a custodian of Islamic Shariah in the country. It runs several cells as Darul Qaza, Nikahnama Cell, Babri Masjid Cell, Mushawarat Cell etc.