India's Ayodhya mosque project scaled back over funding shortfall

A mosque project conceived as part of India's Supreme Court settlement of the Ayodhya dispute is being drastically reduced in scope due to a lack of community interest and funding. Officials from the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) announced that the original vision for a mosque, a 300-bed hospital, and a library on a five-acre plot will be scaled back to a much smaller mosque.

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There is certainly a disinterest from the community and the donations received are not enough.

IICF Chairman Zufar Ahmad Faruqi cited a "disinterest from the community" and insufficient donations as the reasons for the scaled-back plan. The foundation has collected only 15 million Indian rupees ($313,856) so far, falling short of the 30 million to 50 million rupees needed for the smaller mosque.

This development contrasts sharply with the completion of a grand Ram temple at the disputed site, a key promise fulfilled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The temple's inauguration occurred months before the upcoming 2024 elections.

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We now plan to build a mosque much smaller than the one originally proposed.

Meanwhile, the Ram temple itself is facing its own challenges, including allegations of theft from donations, which recently led to a leadership overhaul. These issues have provided ammunition for the opposition ahead of elections in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state.

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small mosque