Facing fund crunch, Ayodhya mosque to now focus on FCRA clearances

Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation trust dissolves all four committees formed to mobilise the construction process of the mosque

To address the fund crunch that is delaying the construction of the Mohammad Bin Abdullah mosque in Ayodhya, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) is now aiming to secure Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) clearance to receive donations from overseas.

To ensure that nothing comes on the way of the FCRA clearance, the IIFC has now dissolved all four committees which were formed to speed up the construction and resource mobilisation for the mosque.

The IICF was set up by the Sunni Central Waqf Board to oversee the construction of the mosque in Ayodhya which was renamed and given a new design earlier this year after the trust witnessed reservations over the name and architecture of the building.

Talking to The Hindu, Athar Hussain, secretary IIFC, said that all the four committees formed for development, finance, publicity, and management of the mosque project were dissolved on September 19, 2024, after the trust held its meeting in Lucknow.

“We are now focusing on speeding up the process of securing the FCRA clearance after which the trust will be able to seek donations from abroad as we already have commitments from may people, overseas,” he said.

Sources in the IICF says that the decision of dissolving the trusts was taken after some fake bank accounts were opened up in the name of the mosque. The IICF, in May this year as also filed a police complaint against the unknown persons who sought donations in the name of the mosque.

“After FCRA, we will have more responsibility to ensure that funds given for a cause are used in the same. So for better coordination and fare system, we have decided to dissolve the committees for now,” one of the trustees who was present in the meeting said.

In November 2019, the Supreme Court had given a go-ahead for the construction of a temple in Ayodhya at the same site where the 16th-century Babri Masjid once stood and was brought down by Hindu fundamentalist groups in 1992. At the same time, the apex court had also ordered the Uttar Pradesh Government to allot a “prominent and suitable” five-acre plot to the Sunni Central Wakf Board in Ayodhya to construct a mosque.

At present, the work of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is completed over 70%, and the consecration of the temple took place in January this year.

The mosque, which is supposed to be constructed 25 kilometres away from the Ayodhya city in an area known as Dhannipur in the outskirts, is still struggling with a funding crunch.

Published - September 20, 2024 10:54 pm IST