Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi backs Ram Mandir

Waseem Rizvi said, “There was never a Masjid on that site in Ayodhya and there can never be a Masjid there. It is the birthplace of Lord Ram and only a Ram Temple will be built. Sympathizers of Babar are destined to lose.”

He is known for having starkly opposite views from most Sunni Muslims. Back in June, Rizvi visited Ayodhya and donated Rs. 10,000 for the construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed site.

Earlier too, he had stated, "Keeping beard is Sunnat. However, keeping a beard without the moustache is against Sunnat as the person looks fearful. Muslims with beard and no moustache are fundamentalists. Such people can be seen promoting terrorism across the world."

Rizvi is in the hit list of Muslim fundamentalists and extremist elements. On 10 July, he had claimed to receive a death threat from Pakistan-based extremist group Jamaat-e-Islami.

In January, he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a ban on madarsas.  He was quoted as saying, “How many madrasas have produced engineers, doctors, IAS officers? But some madrasas have produced terrorists.  In West Bengal, the police had detected a terror module where madarsas were imparting training for bomb manufacturing and as per another report as many as 58 madarsas were found to be having links with `Jihadist outfits.”

With this politically sensitive dispute pending in the apex court, Rizvi’s comment is sure to create another row.

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