In Saamana editorial, Shiv Sena seeks dismissal of Babri Masjid demolition case

The Shiv Sena on Wednesday said dismissal of the Babri mosque demolition case before the ground-breaking ceremony for the Ram temple construction would be a true homage to “martyrs” of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. “When you accept (Mughal emperor) Babar was an aggressor, the Babri case itself becomes obsolete,” an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said. It said even after the Supreme Court delivered verdict on the Ram temple, the CBI continues with the Babri mosque demolition case in the apex court and “leader of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement” LK Advani appears in the case as an accused. “If the Babri mosque demolition case is dismissed before the ‘bhoomi pujan’ of the Ram mandir, it would be a homage to the martyrs of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement,” the Shiv Sena said. “When you accept Babar was an aggressor, the Babri case itself becomes obsolete,” it added. A special CBI court on Monday set 24 July for recording the statement of former deputy prime minister Advani in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case. The 92-year-old BJP leader’s statement under section 313 of CrPC will be recorded through video conferencing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ayodhya on August 5 for the ‘bhoomi pujan’ for the construction of the Ram temple. The Shiv Sena said the day Babri mosque was pulled down, the world saw that faces of many “warriors” turned black with fear. “‘We haven’t done this, this is the job of Shiv Sena’, the then BJP vice president Sundar Singh Bhandari had said,” the Shiv Sena claimed. “To which, late Balasaheb Thackeray thundered that if his Sainiks had indeed done it, he was proud of them,” the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said. The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992 by ‘kar sevaks’ who claimed that an ancient Ram temple had stood on the same site. Advani and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi were leading the Ram temple movement at that time.