Fifteen years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, a Central Bureau of Investigations court in Rae Bareli on Wednesday commenced trial of the case in which senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani and seven Sangh Parivar leaders are accused.
'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
The term of the Commission, set up almost soon after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, has now been extended till December 31
On the eve of 22nd anniversary of Babri mosque demolition, the temple town has turned into a fortress with nearly 10,000 security personnel deployed amid calls by Muslim outfits to mark the day by hoisting black flags even as Hindu bodies seek to commemorate it.
As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
In an interview, he recalled how Hashim Ansari, one of the original litigants in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, took him to the mosque on his bicycle.
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.
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.
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.
While charges against top Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders including Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar were already dropped by the high court, the most prominent among those who were on the firing line was former Faizabad district magistrate R N Srivastava and mafia don turned BJP member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Saran Singh
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
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.
'During the nine years of BJP rule, not a single temple has been reconstructed.' 'They might have constructed the Ram temple as it is an emotional issue. But they are not much interested in issues like heritage.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday dubbed the Liberhan Commission report, probing the Babri Masjid demolition, as devoid of any credibility and said the 'leakage' of the report was as dubious as its content.
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.
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.
Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had no knowledge of the plan to demolish Babri Masjid and he believed in the assurance given by top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders concerning the march to Ayodhya in 1992 by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and security at the disputed site, Rao's former media adviser PVRK Prasad said on Sunday.
A cabinet meeting outside Lucknow -- a rare event -- was held for the first time in Prayagraj in January of 2019.
Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj tore apart the Justice Liberhan Commission report, probing the Babri Masjid demolition, on Tuesday and asked the government to reject it.
The top court, which had earlier fixed August 31 as the deadline for completion of proceedings including pronouncement of the verdict, took note of the report filed by special judge S K Yadav in the high-profile case.
Kalyan Singh's counsel B B Saksena cited a statement by the then Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh while making this allegation before Justice Liberhan.
It's intriguing that the prime minister now wants his American partner to help protect the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. That's conceding to the Americans a pre-eminence India has always contested, resented and feared, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Prince' Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy likes to introduce himself as a great-great grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar.
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.
Mulayam is clearly all set to play up the Muslim card. So what if that involves handing over an opportunity to exploit Hindutva to sworn rival BJP, says Sharat Pradhan
One would not normally associate a love story with the Babri Masjid demolition, but National Award-winning novelist Aabid Surti's latest offering does just that.
Meanwhile, an opposition sponsored motion for discussion on the dropping of conspiracy charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation was rejected in the Rajya Sabha after an hour-long argument on its admissibility.
They staged an hour-long 'dharna' at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside the Parliament House complex denouncing the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits for creating communal tension.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The CBI has challenged the 2001 order of a Special CBI court dropping proceedings against the duo in the Babri Masjid demolition case on technical grounds.
The CBI has moved the Supreme Court challenging an Allahabad High Court order that dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against top BJP leaders including L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
It has sought permission to begin prosecution proceedings against Deputy Prime Minister Advani, Union minister M M Joshi and 19 others.
The sting operation carried out 'Cobrapost' giving details of alleged conspiracy by right-wing organisations to bring down Babri Masjid in 1992 has no evidentiary value for the Central Bureau of Investigation as it has already completed the investigation.
The opposition is agitated over the CBI dropping the conspiracy charge against Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and some other BJP leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Passing judgment in the case, metropolitan magistrate S S Sharma, who is presiding over the riot cases of 1992, said all the 13 people against whom trial proceedings were launched, were acquitted of all charges as the police had failed to prove the charges against them
The special court hearing the demolition case fixed May 31 for the next hearing.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation for the delay in filing appeal against the Allahabad high court order that conspiracy charge will not apply to BJP leader L K Advani and others in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
"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.
