A generation has passed and the demolition appears to be a story of a era gone by, says Sharat Pradhan, who shares his experience as a witness in court in the Babri Masjid demolition case
The hearing in the Babri masjid demolition case was on Tuesday deferred as the notification for nomination of a judge is still to be issued by the Allahabad high court. "The matter was not taken up today as a notification regarding nomination of magistrate is yet to be issued by the high court," prosecution sources said
A generation has passed and the demolition appears to be a story of an era gone by, says Sharat Pradhan, who shares his experience as a witness in court in the Babri Masjid demolition case. On the 25th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, we republish this 2011 special.
Bhartiya Janshakti Party President Uma Bharti in Bhopal on Tuesday said she is ready to own responsibility for the demolition of the disputed Babri mosque at Ayodhya and has no problem even if she is hanged on the issue.
A generation has passed and the demolition appears to be a story of a era gone by, says Rediff.com's Sharat Pradhan, who shares his experience as a witness in court in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
The defence counsel pleaded that CBI was only an investigating agency and had no right to prosecute.
'The outrage that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid was an inability to see the event for what it was: The rectification of a grave historical wrong, the restitution of a hurt of a people and the countering of moral injustice,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
The Babri Masjid demolition is just an incident and there is nothing famous or infamous about it, the Supreme Court on Monday said while listing Central Bureau of Investigation's plea for levelling charges of criminal conspiracy against senior Bhartatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray and 18 others to March 27.
A bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman asked all the parties in the case to file their written arguments by April 6 and posted the matter for further hearing on April 7.
While closing the contempt proceedings, the bench observed that the matter ought to have come up for hearing earlier.
Security has been tightened in Beldanga, West Bengal, ahead of a foundation stone-laying ceremony for a proposed mosque, modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid. The area has been placed under high security with additional forces deployed.
The Calcutta high court on Friday refused to intervene in the construction of a mosque -- modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid -- at Beldanga in West Bengal's Murshidabad, proposed by suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir.
Eighteen years after the Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, the judgment about the disputed land has finally been pronounced. But the case against the accused in the mosque demolition is still going on in the Central Bureau of Investigation's special court.The case has now been deferred to October 5 since a notification appointing a new judge for the CBI special court is yet to be issued. The court is likely to resume hearing in the second week of Oct
Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir has initiated the construction of a mosque modeled after the Babri Masjid in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, sparking political reactions and debate.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has too decided against observing the 27th anniversary of the demolition as "Shaurya Diwas".
Justice Liberhan took 17 years, 1,029 pages and 48 extensions at a cost of Rs 8 crore -- and added an 18-page postscript and blamed his own counsel to explain the delay in handing out news that everyone has known or suspected all along.Many of the politicians and officials who testified before the Liberhan Commission in more than a decade-and-a-half have retired, some have passed on, the country's political map has been dramatically redrawn.
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday suspended its Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir, who had triggered a storm with the proposal to build 'Babri Masjid' in Murshidabad district.
Kabir cut a ceremonial ribbon alongside visiting clerics on the dais as slogans of "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar" were raised at the venue, where thousands had gathered since morning.
Amidst tight security, the 20th anniversary of Babri Mosque demolition is being observed on Thursday in the twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad as "black day" and "shaurya diwas" by Muslim and Hindu outfits respectively.
Violence broke out between activists of Shiv Sena and All India Babri Masjid Re-Building Committee, when an unidentified man pelted stones at the activists of AIBRC, who were demanding the reconstruction of the structure, a senior police official said.
Yet another book has levelled an allegation that P V Narasimha Rao had connived at the demolition of Babri Masjid claiming that the late prime minister had sat in a puja when the kar sevaks began pulling it down and rose only when it was over.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Thursday lashed out at the Central Bureau of Investigation after the Supreme Court asked it to explain the delay in filing an appeal against the Allahabad High Court's order for dropping the conspiracy charges in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
'He failed to foresee that the campaign of hatred need not be continuous; a sporadic, scattered campaign is enough.' 'What was important is to keep the pot boiling, not let it overflow like happened during the masjid-mandir days,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The special court is hearing the 1992 demolition cases, including the one against BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti.
A major controversy has erupted in West Bengal after a TMC MLA announced plans to lay the foundation stone of a mosque modeled on the Babri Masjid, leading to political backlash and concerns over communal polarization.
The BJP counsel told the Liberhan Commission that the demolition was unfortunate and uncontrolled.
The EC on Saturday had issued a show-cause notice to Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast accused currently out on bail, over her remark made during an interview to a news channel.
Dropping references to the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the killing of Muslims in Gujarat riots and Hindutva, and tweaking the reference to Manipur's merger with India are among the latest set of revisions made public by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in its textbooks.
Donation boxes kept for the proposed Babri masjid-style mosque by suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir in West Bengal's Murshidabad district are nearly full, with cash-counting machines whirring through the night as donations continue to pour in both physically and online.
A bench headed by Justice P C Ghose said the appropriate bench comprising him and Justice R F Nariman will be hearing the matter on Thursday. Justice Nariman was not present in the court on Wednesday.
The verdict by a special court in the Babri Masjid demolition case comes 28 years after kar sevaks razed the 16th century mosque and almost a year after the Supreme Court settled the land case in favour of a Ram temple at the disputed Ayodhya site.
Singh, who was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when the 16th-century structure was razed on December 6 in 1992, was first taken in judicial custody by the court after he appeared before it in response to the summons in the demolition case.
The CBI court had on September 30, 2020 acquitted the accused including former deputy prime minister L K Advani in the case after which two Ayodhya residents -- Haji Mahboob and Syed Akhlaq -- moved a revision petition before the Allahabad high court.
Governor C V Ananda Bose, meanwhile, urged citizens not to be swayed by "provocative statements and rumours" and asked the state to ensure there was 'no disturbance anywhere'.
The former CM said his party's Hindutva is "nationalism" and the Bharatiya Janata Party should explain what is its Hindutva.
"It is surprising that even after going through with the completion of recording of evidence of witnesses and arguments, the commission has failed to submit its findings. So much so that Mumbai High Court had to comment adversely regarding the functioning and delay in the completion of inquiry by the commission. "Consequently, there is genuine feeling among the vast sections of the society, especially among Muslims," the resolution noted.
On October 5, 2019, the sessions court hearing the matter had said that as per Supreme Court orders, all evidence has to be presented before December 24, 2019, which would be the last working day.
He also dubbed the Congress' alliance with BSP in Uttar Pradesh in 1996 as a "sell out".
Iqbal Ansari, one of the main plaintiffs who fought for the right of the community over the disputed land, says Muslims in Ayodhya won't be satisfied if the Sunni Waqf Board accepts the five acres in Dhannipur.
Though religion is no longer the hot topic, the government should be on its guard
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