Posted: September 2, 2020 1:42:49 am
Professor SM Akhtar
The dean of Jamia Millia Islamia’s Department of Architecture, Professor SM Akhtar, will design the mosque and the surrounding complex to be built on land assigned to the Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya in lieu of the demolished Babri Masjid.
The 5-acre land had been assigned to the Board in the village of Dhannipur to build a mosque in accordance with last year’s Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case.
“Professor Akhtar will design the mosque in Ayodhya, which will be built by the Sunni Waqf Board on alternative lands ceded by the government (of Uttar Pradesh) by order of SC,” Jamia PRO Ahmed Azeem said on Tuesday.
Akhtar told The Indian Express that Athar Hussain, secretary of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), the board-formed trust for the construction, informed him of his selection to design the complex.
“I will design the entire complex; the mosque will be part of it. What will be in the complex has not been decided yet, but hopefully there will be a hospital. The basic concept is to serve humanity and society. For that, we can build anything, “he said.
Akhtar said there is no deadline in mind yet. “We have just started work. It will definitely take a long time. You have to take into account many aspects: the statutes, the location and what people want, “she said. “But I am clear about the basic objective. The concept is to have a center that can serve society, with human values, the Indian spirit and the Islamic spirit ”.
On the sensibilities involved in designing the mosque as an alternative to Babri Masjid, Akhtar said: “I am an architect, (and) the role of an architect is for the future, not for the past. Whatever the past is … I don’t care about that. I am only concerned with the future and how it will serve humanity. “
When asked if any element of the Babri Masjid would make it into design, he said: “We will work for contemporary design because, in my opinion, architecture is never replicated, but evolves according to contemporary society. The current consideration is the environment and energy, so if something from the past is relevant to conserving energy today, it can be adopted. There is no harm in that. “
The trust secretary, Athar Hussain, said: “Akhtar is originally from Lucknow. He is also an urban planner and that will help us, since we are not building a single building, but several buildings connected in harmony ”.
The trust, meanwhile, is creating two separate bank accounts to begin collecting funds for the construction: one account for donations for the mosque and the other for the remaining structures. –With input from ENS, Lucknow
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