Das served as the head priest since he was 20 years old, including during the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
The Congress on Monday gave a clean chit to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and spiritual preacher Deoraha Baba, whose names figure in the list of those found culpable by the Liberhan Commission, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. "Vajpayee's name was not in the conspiracy (to demolish Babri mosque). His name was only in one of the lists," Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.
The government said it was possible that some misdirected elements may wish to disturb communal peace and harmony on the eve of December 6, the day when the Babri masjid was demolished in Ayodhya 17 years ago.
Sources said that Shah was accompanied by a battery of government lawyers as he met Advani at the 92-year-old leader's residence in connection with the case.
The Supreme Court of India will hear a plea from the mosque management committee challenging an order rejecting its petition in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh on January 15. The Allahabad High Court had rejected the mosque committee's plea, stating that the religious character of the Shahi Idgah mosque needed to be determined. The case involves claims that the mosque was built after the demolition of a temple, a claim disputed by the mosque committee. The Supreme Court will now decide on the maintainability of the mosque committee's plea.
Investigations into the 'white collar' terror module busted after the recent car bombing near Red Fort showed that the mastermind Dr Umar-un Nabi had attempted to recruit a second suicide bomber but could not succeed as he backed out of the terror plot citing the need to help his family during the apple harvest, officials said on Sunday.
The Samajwadi Party announced on Saturday that it would walk out of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi after Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray's close aide hailed the demolition of Babri mosque and a related newspaper advertisement.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani and others leaders on a plea against dropping of criminal conspiracy charge against them in the Babri mosque demolition case.
The mosque is coming up in the Uttar Pradesh district pursuant to the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.
'If at all human beings require a religion, the future religion will be Hinduism.'
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party over its attempt to reach out to the minorities, questioning whether it will take action against Narendra Modi for the Gujarat riots or L K Advani will accept his "crime" in the Babari Mosque demolition.
Significantly, none of the one-time frontrunners of the temple movement were around. Even former local MP and founder of the Hindu hardline Bajrang Dal Vinay Katiyar kept away from Ayodhya.
The Mathura Shahi Masjid Eidgah Committee has approached the Supreme Court, requesting the court to prevent the central government from filing a response to a petition challenging the Places of Worship Act's constitutional validity. The committee accuses the BJP-led government of intentionally delaying its response. The court had previously issued a notice to the government in March 2021, but the government has yet to submit its reply despite numerous opportunities. The committee argues that the government's delay is intended to obstruct those opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship Act from filing their own responses. The petition also states that the pleas challenging the law's validity are scheduled for hearing on February 17, and closing the government's right to respond would serve justice. The Supreme Court previously issued a ruling in December 2022 that stopped courts from entertaining new lawsuits or issuing interim or final orders regarding the reclaiming of religious places, particularly mosques and dargahs. The ruling halted proceedings in 18 lawsuits filed by Hindu groups seeking surveys to confirm the original religious character of 10 mosques, including the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura, and the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. This decision was made in response to six petitions, including one filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, challenging various provisions of the Places of Worship Act. The 1991 law prohibits the conversion of places of worship and guarantees the preservation of their existing religious character as it stood on August 15, 1947. Notably, the dispute regarding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was excluded from this law. There are also several cross-petitions advocating for a strict enforcement of the 1991 law to uphold communal harmony and maintain the current status of mosques that Hindu groups seek to reclaim, claiming they were temples before being destroyed by invaders.
According to Hindu scriptures, Ganga Dussehra marks the day the holy river Ganga descended to Earth from Lord Shiva's locks, moved by King Bhagirath's penance. The day is considered highly auspicious and symbolises virtue, penance, and the collective well-being of humanity.
The statement of the 86-year-old leader was recorded in the court of Special Judge S K Yadav through video conference.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of raking up the Ayodhya issue in a bid to gain political mileage, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday claimed that it had never given a clean chit to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on the Babri Masjid demolition issue and blamed the Congress for being 'equally responsible' for it."The SP never gave a clean chit to Kalyan on the Babri Mosque demolition. But the fact is that the Congress is equally responsible," said Amar.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Tuesday fixed November 18 as the next date of hearing in the Babri mosque demolition case. "On the request of defence counsel Hari Dutt Sharma, who is seeking an adjournment on personal grounds, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vishnu Prasad Agarwal posted the matter for further hearing on November 18," the prosecution said.
A body representing the 'Khadims' of the Ajmer dargah has condemned a plea in a local court that seeks to declare the shrine of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz as a temple, saying right-wing forces were trying to "isolate" Muslims and "disrupt" communal harmony in the country.
A former personal security officer of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani told a special court on Friday that the Faizabad police had intelligence inputs about the possibility of attack on the Babri mosque by "kar sevaks" and its demolition.
A senior Indian Police Service officer deposed before a special Central Bureau of Investigation court on Friday as a prosecution witness in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case, in which L K Advani and other Sangh Parivar leaders have been accused of inciting violence.
The Allahabad high court on Monday dismissed a petition filed against the allotment of land in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village for the construction of a mosque, following the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
Opposition parties led by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday created ruckus in the Lok Sabha by resorting to loud sloganeering to disrupt Union Home Minister P Chidambaram while making a statement over the Liberhan Commission's report related to the Babri mosque demolition during the ongoing discussion.
During the freedom struggle, Shah had launched revolts in the Awadh region. He made the local mosque, Masjid Sarai, located in Chowk area of Faizabad his headquarters. As he liberated Faizabad and larger part of Awadh region, he used the premises of this mosque to hold meetings with rebel leaders.
In a historic verdict in November on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of construction of a temple. It also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque within Ayodhya.
Advani denied his involvement in the alleged conspiracy along with 'kar sevaks' to demolish the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. He pleaded he was completely innocent and was unnecessarily dragged in the case owing to political reasons.
The Hindu litigants claim the mosque holds signs suggesting that it was a temple once.
The sophisticated 'white-collar' terror module, spearheaded by a group of doctors recently busted by Jammu and Kashmir Police, had been actively scouting for a suicide bomber since last year, with key planner Dr Umar Nabi pushing the agenda, officials said on Sunday.
Special Judge SK Yadav also fixed July 23 for recording the statement of BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi through video conferencing.
Can ordinary citizens counter this backward march? Can peace activists ensure that the two communities retain their bonds? Do they have a choice, asks Jyoti Punwani.
From a modest start with baithaks of a handful of swayamsevaks in a small town in Nagpur, the RSS, which completes 100 years of its foundation on Thursday, has come a long way to become the world's biggest voluntary organisation with a pan-India presence, shaping the country's political and social discourse.
The Indian government has officially classified the car explosion outside the Red Fort as a terrorist incident, vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice swiftly. The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and expressed condolences for the victims.
The committee takes care of 22 mosques, including the Gyanvapi Masjid, in the city and it has been presenting the Muslim side in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case.
'Unless Justice Chandrachud's judgment is (over)turned, there is no end to it.'
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu were among those who attended the meeting, sources said.
"Interim orders wherever granted shall continue. Re-list in first half of April, 2024," the bench said in its order and directed the parties to complete the pleadings by then.
The plea, filed by advocates Shishir Chaturvedi and Karunesh Kumar Shukla, said that apart from private individuals and members of state Sunni Board, the presence of central and state government representatives was essential to ensure proper management of the funds.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked the ASI not to take recourse to any invasive act during the survey.
Five members of a school management near Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district have been booked.
The Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by karsevaks on December 6, 1992.
