Rohit Shrivastava donated Rs 21,000 to the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation
An employee of the Lucknow University's Faculty of Law, has become the first person - outside of the board of trustees - to contribute to the construction of a mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, which will be built on a five-acre plot given to the Muslim community by order of the Supreme Court as part of its landmark judgement in November last year.
The donation of Rs 21,000 - by one Rohit Shrivastava on Saturday - was made to the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), which has been set up by the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board to oversee the building of a complex that will include a mosque, a hospital, a library and an Indo-Islamic cultural research centre, a museum and a community kitchen.
"Yesterday was a joyous day for us, when we accepted the first donation outside of trustees, and especially because it came from Lucknow-based Rohit Shrivastava. This act by him has set a perfect example of Lucknow, or Awadh's, Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (a reference to the fusion of the Hinduism and Islam)," Athar Hussain, the Secretary of the IICF, was quoted by news agency ANI.
Mr Hussain said the donation had also boosted the IICF's spirit and would go a long way towards achieving the goal of building the complex on the five acres of land allotted in Ayodhya.
Last year the top court said the land in Ayodhya would be given to a government-run trust for the building of a temple and Muslims would be given a five-acre plot in the town to build a new mosque.
The verdict came after a century-old legal wrangle over a piece of land on which a Babri masjid, built in the 16th century, stood before it was razed by Hindu activists on December 6, 1992.
Construction of the new mosque complex, Athar Hussain told ANI, was proceeding well.
The IICF, he said, was also planning to showcase the long history of the Indo-Islamic culture and highlight peaceful co-existence of the two communities in the past.
"We will submit the drawings (plans for the construction) to the Ayodhya zila panchayat and we are hopeful of getting approvals soon. Construction is likely to begin within two months," he said.
With input from ANI