Zafaryab Jilani (73), one of the most visible faces of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid conflict, died on Wednesday at a hospital in Lucknow after a long illness. Jilani lived with his wife, two sons, and a daughter. He was the convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) and an executive committee (EC) member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).
He experienced a cerebral haemorrhage in 2021 after slipping in his house. He hasn’t been doing well since, even after big surgery. Jilani, a staunch supporter of secularism, represented the Muslim side in the Ayodhya title suit case in several courts for 45 years, until the Supreme Court issued an order to settle the centuries-old conflict on November 9, 2020.
Jilani, a Shariat law expert, was opposed to the Sunni Central Waqf Board’s decision to accept the five-acre alternative land provided by the UP government in response to the Supreme Court’s order for constructing a mosque some 25 kilometres away from the Ram Janmabhoomi premises where the Babri mosque stood prior to December 6, 1992.
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