In a classic case of communal harmony and making friendly overtures towards the dominant Hindu community in Uttar Pradesh and the rest of the country, the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board has offer to donate 10 silver arrows for the proposed 100-meter tall statue of Lord Ram.

Uttar Pradesh chief-minister Yogi Adityanath announced a few days back that the proposed 100-metre tall statue of Lord Ram to come up in Ayodhya would become the identity of the State.  The Shia Waqf Board’s offer augurs well for the State which has witnessed the most number of communal clashes especially after the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid at the disputed site in Ayodhya by ‘Kar Sewaks’.

The Board had also struck a compromise formula stating that instead of objecting to the Lord Ram’s temple to come up Ayodhya, Muslims would do well to consider a new Mosque to come up near Ayodhya where Muslims live in large numbers.  “We are willing to donate 10 huge silver arrows to be part of the 100-meter statue of Lord Ram to be brought up on the banks of River Sarayu,” Board’s chairman Waseem Rizvi has said in a letter addressed to chief-minister Adityanath.

“U.P. Government’s decision to erect the Lord Ram statue is appreciable; we have decided to donate 10 huge silver arrows as a token of love from Shias towards Lord Ram,” Rizvi’s letter said further.  “Nawab Shuja-ud-daulah and Nawab Asif-ud-daulah had donated lands and funds to construct the Hanuman Garhi in the past,” he said.