After the meeting of AIMPLB held in Lucknow on Sunday, the Jamiat Ulema Hind had announced its decision to file a review petition, the first three Muslim litigants who supported the move were Mohammad Umar, Misbahuddin residents of Ayodhya and Faizabad, respectively and Maulana Mahfuz Ur Rahman of Tanda Tahsil in Ambedkar Nagar district in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
On Monday evening, four more Muslim litigants - Haji Mahboob, Haji Asad, Hafiz Rizwan and Maulana Hizbullah announced that they will also support the AIMPLB and Jamiat in the review petition. Now the total number of Muslim litigants going for a review petition has reached seven, however another Muslim litigant Iqbal Ansari and Uttar Pradesh government body Sunni Central Waqf Board have already announced that they are not going for a review petition.
Haji Mehboob is a prominent Muslim litigant and resident of Ayodhya, Maulana Hizbullah is Ayodhya unit president of Jamiat Ulema Hind while Haji Asad, Samajwadi Party corporator of Ayodhya Municipal Corporation and his brother Hafiz Rizwan, are sons of one of the first Muslim litigants in the case, Haji Abdul Ahad.
With this, seven of 10 Muslim parties have agreed to go for a review, barring UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, UP Shia Central Waqf Board and key litigant Iqbal Ansari.
Talking to , Haji Mehboob said, "I have given my consent to AIMPLB and I will join the Muslim parties on the Ayodhya issue."
Mehboob had met AIMPLB's expelled cleric Maulana Salman Nadwi on Ayodhya's outskirts on Saturday, where he claimed a review was not required. Nadwi was accompanied by a representative of mediation panel Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Now Mahboob has said he will support the AIMPLB's move.
Speaking to , Haji Asad said, "We will exercise our Constitutional rights to file a review petition. I and my brother Rizwan are buoyed by hope and we wish to fight the legal battle."
Maulana Hizbullah, another litigant in the case, told that "I have given my consent to a review petition and it's necessary we must exercise our Constitutional rights and we will fight till the end."
On Sunday, AIMPLB, an umbrella body of Muslim organisations in the country, said though it was not a party to the case, it had been extending legal support to Muslim litigants and it would go for a review petition if the litigants agreed.
( With inputs from IANS )