NEW DELHI: Nearly a month after the Supreme Court declared its judgment on the Ayodhya dispute, Muslim outfits gathered at the heart of Delhi to demand punishment for those who were responsible for the demolition of the Babri Masjid 27 years ago.
The protesters also raised objections against the Supreme Court’s November 9 verdict, which, according to them, had several arguments in favour of the Muslims as it labelled the installation of Hindu idols in 1949 and demolition of Masjid in 1992 as “unconstitutional”.
“Yet, they (SC judges) concluded it in favour of building a temple there, said Tasleem Rehman of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
While some speakers argued that BJP and forces led by the RSS caused the feud, SQR Ilyas of Welfare Party of India took the debate further to assert that “the so-called secular Congress” was equally responsible as it remained “silent spectators”. “With this (decision), there will be questions on the long struggle for Independence that we fought together for. They say only the BJP was responsible for whatever happened,” Ilyas said, asserting that the Congress was in power in 1992.
Delhi Government’s Minority Affairs chairman Jafrul Ismal argued that the British divided the people by starting the debate around Babri Masjid. “Those bearing the brunt today are Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India,” he asserted.
Shakeel Ahmad, a protester, said that the country’s leadership should know that the India “isn’t ever going to be a Muslim-free country”.
“Mosque is the home of God. It isn’t an area of exchange,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court order of providing an alternative plot for the Muslims to build a mosque.