'Sad day for Indian judiciary': Asaduddin Owaisi slams Babri Masjid demolition verdict, says those responsible 'politically rewarded'

Calling the acquittal of the 32 accused on the Babri Masjid demolition a denial of justice and a “black day for Indian judiciary”, Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the special CBI court’s judgment satisfied the collective conscience of the Hindutva ideology and its followers but denied justice to those wronged in 1992. Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti were among ‘key conspirators’ named in a CBI chargesheet filed in the case of the 6 December, 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. However, a CBI court, ruled after 28 years that the demolition was a spontaneous act by a mob of miscreants and not part of any larger conspiracy, as alleged by the CBI. Owaisi, while slamming the judgment, went on to say that he felt the same “humiliation and helplessness” that he felt on the day of the demolition. He also said that the CBI court’s judgement went against the Supreme Court, which had said in a November 2019 judgment that the demolition by kar sevaks was an “egrerious violation of rule of law” and “calculated act of destroying a public place of worship”. “I am unable to understand that if this was an egregious violation of rule of law, was the mosque martyred using magic on 6 December? How were idols kept inside on the nights of 29 and 29 December, 1949? Were the locks opened using magic when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister?" Owaisi asked. Also hitting out at special CBI judge SK Yadav’s judgement where he stated that the demolition was not not “pre-planned” and occurred at the “spur of the moment”, he said, “Now, the court says there was no conspiracy. Please enlighten me, how many days of months of preparations are required to disqualify an action from being spontaneous?.” Alleging that Advani, Joshi and Bharti were distributing sweets when the mosque was being demolished, the MP from Hyderabad said, “Violence pays politically. You can say that wherever Advani’s Rath Yatra went, there was bloodshed. Innocent people were murdered, properties were burnt, families were uprooted and destroyed.” However, they were rewarded by being given ministerial berths, Owaisi went on to say. Apart from the BJP, RSS, VHP and the Congress were also at the root of the demolition, Owaisi said, adding that it was during the Congress’s rule that the idols were kept in the mosque. Citing an eyewitness’ statement in the CBI chargesheet, he went on to say that then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh had said that the Supreme Court has restricted construction and not demolition at the disputed site. “Did the CBI chargesheet not say that Advani hatched the conspiracy at Vinay Katiyar’s home on 5 December? Is it not true that Advani told Kalyan Singh not to resign until the mosque is demolished so that the government is not dismissed? Did the BJP government (UP) not promise the Supreme Court that it would protect the mosque?” Owaisi asked. Responding to questions, Owaisi further said that he hopes the CBI will appeal against the court’s decision for the sake of its independence. He also said that he would approach the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and ask them to appeal against the judgment. Owaisi also reacted with a quote in Urdu by Malikzada Manzoor Ahmed, which roughly translates to, “The killer is the only litigant, the only court and the only judge in the case. Therefore, a lot of verdicts are one-sided.”