Hyderabad: All India Muslim Personal Law Board has made it clear that there was no change in its stand of “no talks” on the Babri Masjid dispute.

At its ongoing three-day session in Hyderabad, the AIMPLB Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution reiterating that under Sharia law, land of a mosque cannot be sold or gifted by anybody and there cannot be any change in the status of the land. “If a piece of land is endowed in the name of Allah, it remains endowed forever,” it said.

Its assertion came in the backdrop of a leading Muslim scholar, Moulana Syed Salman Hussaini Nadvi, of prominent seminary Nadwatul Ulema, Lucknow, stirring the proverbial hornet’s nest by meeting Art of Living founder Ravishankar. During the meeting, he reportedly suggested that Muslims could consider a new location for the Babri Masjid away from the disputed site in Ayodhya in lieu of alternate land for the mosque and a central university for the community.

The news of the meeting in Bengaluru came as a shock and disappointment to the delegates from all over the country gathered in Hyderabad for the annual session of the Muslim Personal Law Board. “It has caused immense pain and anguish to the Board members,” a prominent member told this correspondent.

Salman Nadvi, a member of the Executive Committee of AIMPLB, is also attending the Hyderabad session but appeared to be completely isolated as most of the participants at the meeting were unhappy for him breaking ranks with the Board.

The issue of his meeting with Ravishankar came up as soon as the meeting of the executive committee began last evening, more than an hour behind schedule.

With Board president Moulana Rabey Hassan Nadvi chairing the meeting, member Qasim Rasool Ilyas raised the matter and moved a motion for action against Salman Nadvi. Sources at the closed-door meeting said that Salman Nadvi defended his action saying it reflected his personal position on the matter and he was not imposing it on others.

Moulana Arshad Madani was among those who said that when somebody was in a responsible position in an organisation, he could not afford to air his personal opinions without regard for their implications on the larger cause.

After a lengthy discussion, the executive committee decided to form a four-member committee to look into the matter and decide on disciplinary action by the end of the current session.

Later Omrain Mahfouz Rahmani, secretary of the Board and executive committee member Asaduddin Owaisi, briefing the media, said that all the members of the Board were unanimous in their stand that there can not be any discussions on the status of Babri Masjid.

In a written statement read out by Moulana Omrain, the Board said: “Whenever Hindu leaders offered to find a solution outside the court, Board did not decline and asked them to come with a just and respectful solution. But they always demanded that the Muslims unilaterally withdraw their claim on the mosque, which Muslims can never do. It is haram [prohibited] to hand over a mosque to others for worship and there is no provision for such an act in Sharia.”

He said this stand of the Board was in continuation of its resolutions passed in December 1990 and January 1993.

“As the matter is now in the highest court of the country, the Board has decided to legally abide by its verdict. The case in the court is not of faith but of the title. Board is confident that court verdict will be in favour of the stand of Muslims and, if that happens, it will neither be a victory or defeat of anybody but it will be victory of justice.”

The plenary session of the Board began on Saturday morning with the controversial Triple Talaq Bill and issue of safeguarding Sharia on top of its agenda.

The plenary will also discuss a host of other issues in three sessions over the next two days. The top leadership of the Board was scheduled to address a massive public meeting in the city on Sunday evening.

Elaborate arrangements have been made for the meeting at the newly built Salar e Millat Indoor Stadium in the Owaisi Medical College and Hospital campus.