Babri, Shah Bano not linked: Owaisi
MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has endorsed revelations of former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole on the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi issue and said it is a historical fact that late Rajiv Gandhi had unlocked the Babri Masjid.
Speaking to the media, the Hyderabad MP maintained that the decision of unlocking the masjid had no link to the Shah Bano case. He pointed out that district judge Hari Shankar Pandey, who allowed unlocking of the masjid, had stated in his book that a black monkey had sat in his court and when presented dry fruits, it did not accept. When he delivered the judgment, the same monkey came to his house. It was then that he (Pandey) realised that the Lord had accepted his judgment.
Asked about his expectations from the Supreme Court verdict on the issue, the MIM president said, “We expect a judgment that will reaffirm and strengthen the rule of law; a judgment, which will tell the world that facts are above faith.”
Mr Owaisi felt that justice had not been done during the entire judicial course from 1949 till unlocking of the Babri Masjid. Further, he said while the judgment was delivered at 4.15 pm, locks of the Babri Masjid were broken within 15 minutes. None bothered to call the person who had the keys. The judgment ran into 25 pages and it would have taken at least 15–20 minutes to type it. Rajiv Gandhi had also started his election campaign from the same place. No one can deny these facts,” Mr Owaisi stated.
The AIMIM president wondered why the contempt petition on demolition of Babri Masjid has not yet been heard. He said it is the Congress party that is responsible for unlocking of the Babri Masjid. Idols were kept inside the masjid when Congress leader Gobind Ballabh Pant was Chief Minister. “And, as per the FIR, when the masjid was demolished, Narasimha Rao of Congress was the Prime Minister,” he pointed out.
Owaisi observed that Supreme Court’s impending judgment on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land case will have an effect on the Kashi and Mathura issues as well.