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Jilani: Zafaryab Jilani, a key figure in Babri case, dead | India News

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LUCKNOW: Zafaryab Jilani, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) secretary who represented the Muslim side in the protracted legal battle over the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, died at a Lucknow hospital on Wednesday after a prolonged illness.
As a senior advocate and convener of Babri Masjid Action Committee, Jilani spearheaded the Babri legal battle right up to the Supreme Court for over four decades. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Many believe Jilani’s tough Babri stand helped BJP rise
AIMPLB secretary Zafaryab Jilani died after a prolonged illness on Wedmesday. He was 73.
A senior advocate, Jilani took over as convener of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) when it was formed in 1986 – after the Faizabad district judge ordered the mosque’s locks to be opened – and spearheaded the legal battle from the Muslim side in the case for nearly 43 years from lower courts to the Supreme Court. Many political analysts believe it was the belligerent stand of Jilani and others on the issue that led to a counter-polarisation and indirectly helped BJP’s rise in UP.
He also opposed the Sunni Central Waqf Board’s stand of constructing a mosque on the land given by the state government in Ayodhya. “The exchange of land for the mosque was not permissible under the Waqf Act and is illegal under the Sharia law,” Jilani, who had also served as UP’s additional advocate general under Mulayam Singh Yadav government, maintained. He kept a low profile ever since the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Ram temple on November 9, 2019, and was last seen actively taking part in the anti-CAA protests in Lucknow. Several political leaders and clerics condoled his death. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav rushed to the hospital and met his family members. “He will stay in our memories as a wise man,” he later tweeted.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said: “His demise is a personal loss to me. He used to guide me like a mentor. He was very close to my late father and former Hyderabad MP Sultan Salauddin Owaisi. He was always ready with legal advice for Muslim Personal Law Board and has served the people seeking justice in an earnest way.” Expressing grief, prominent cleric Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali said: “I hope Allah gives him absolution and strength to the people he has left behind.”


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