Donation drive for mosque shocks RFA

MEMBERS OF the Royal Family of Avadh (RFA) have expressed shock over the move by some people to collect donations in the name of upkeep of the historic Asafi Masjid in the city. The issue was brought to the notice of District Magistrate Ramendra Tripathi by the RFA office-bearers in a meeting with him on Wednesday.

MEMBERS OF the Royal Family of Avadh (RFA) have expressed shock over the move by some people to collect donations in the name of upkeep of the historic Asafi Masjid in the city. The issue was brought to the notice of District Magistrate Ramendra Tripathi by the RFA office-bearers in a meeting with him on Wednesday.

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Objecting to the ongoing fund-raising drive, RFA general secretary Shikoh Azad said the mosque in question was an ASI protected monument, hence, no private body or individual was authorised to carry out any kind of repair or maintenance work on it. In any case, he said, the Hussainabad Trust was constituted by the erstwhile Nawabs precisely to ensure the upkeep of such monuments in the city.

Demanding an inquiry into the incident, he said, the scions of the blue-blooded Nawabs were deeply hurt by the attempt of some people to line their own pockets in the name of donation for the mosque.

The RFA requested the DM to ensure installation of metal detectors at both the Chhota and Bada Imambara in the wake of terrorist threats. Azad also demanded an inquiry into the alleged anomalies committed in the fraudulent sale and transfer of leased properties on the Nehru Marg, Chowk-Allahabad Bank-Charak Pathology stretch in the Old City.