BABRI MASJID
AIMPLB-BMC, BMMCC AND AIBMAC's Joint Memorandum On the Babari Masjid Question
Submitted to the President and the Prime Minister of India, 6 December, 1996
On behalf of the Babari Masjid Movement, the Muslim community and the secular forces we beg to draw your attention tothe following facts on the 4th anniversary of the demolition of the Babari Masjid.
Four years after the Demolition of the Babari Masjid by the chauvinist forces, your Government is yet to fulfill the commitment of the then Prime Minister, with the world as his witness, to rebuild the Masjid.
Four years after the Demolition, the site of the Babari Masjid stands occupied by an unlawful structure, constructed in defiance of the law and converted in violation of the status quo, into a make-shift temple, after you had taken over the governance of the State.
Four years after the Demolition, the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Government is yet to complete its task and has not even submitted its Preliminary Report which would serve to reveal the face of the conspirators.
Four years after the Demolition, the criminal proceedings before the Special Bench has made little progress and although some individuals have been barge- sheeted and committed to trial, not a single person has been punished for this crime against the Nation.
Four years after the Demolition, the title suit is plodding its slow passage before the Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court.
Four years after the Demolition, the Supreme Court is yet to punish those who have committed blatant contempt of court and order the demolition of the concrete structure constructed by them, or, the construction of the ancient Masjid they demolished.
Four years after the Demolition, some persons directly responsible for the demolition, including those who pride themselves on their role, sit in legislatures and occupy high places in the public life of the country.
Four years after the Demolition, the next-of-kin of those killed in the mass frenzy and police action that followed have not all received any compensation and many innocent persons continue to be detained under TADA.
Four. years after the Demolition, Sangh Parivar particularly the RSS and the VHP are once again beating the war drums and threatening to take the law into their hands once again and inciting the people to forcibly occupy and demolish the Shahi Idgah at Mathura and the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi and its political front, the BJP is maintaining a diplomatic silence, only out of fear of derecognition.
In the circumstances, we beg to place humbly the following demands before you for transmission to your Government for due consideration.
I. The title suit pending before the Special Bench, the inquiry in the hands of the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry and the Criminal Case before the Special Judge, Lucknow, be expedited by instituting day-to-day hearing and extending full cooperation of the Government.
2. The Supreme Court be moved by your Government to take up the contempt proceedings and bring them to their logical and legal conclusion and order the demolition of the concrete platform and of the illegal make-shift temple on the site of the Babari Masjid.
3. The Government publicly reiterate its commitment to rebuild the Masjid on its original site, if the title suit is decided in favour of the Muslim community although you will appreciate that in law and equity, the Muslim community is entitled to claim immediate reconstruction of the Babari Masjid, whatever be the final judicial verdict in the question of title.
4. The Government fulfill its commitment to pay Rs.2lakhsforeach life lost in post-Ayodhya disturbances.
5. The Government advise the State Governments concerned to review the cases o fall detainees, under TADA or otherwise, and advise them to release those who have not yet been charge-sheeted and those against whom there are no serious allegations.
6. The Government should take due notice of the rising tempo of agitation by the RSSNHP on the questions of the Shahi Idgah, Mathura, and the Gyanvapi Masjid, Varanasi, which are protected by the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act,1991,andtake pre emptive steps in accordance with law to nip the mischief in the bud.
While the wounds of Demolition have not yet healed, the Forces of Chauvinism continue to besiege the Citadel of Secularism. The very survival of Secular State continues to beat stake. On the other hand, the people in general, and the Muslim community in particular, who are committed to the secular order are losing their faith in the State. We have come to beg you to restore their faith and give heart to the forces of secularism by asking your Government to act sympathetically on our submission.
AIMPLB -BMC, BMMCC and AIDMAC Joint Statement on Observance of4th Anniversary of the Demolition of the Babari Masjid, 27November, 1996
On behalf of the Babari Masjid Movement, the AIMPLB BMC,the BMMCC and the AIBMAC jointly appeal to the secular forces, in general, and to the Muslim community inparticular,suitablytoobservethe4th anniversary of the demolition of the Babari Masjid by the chauvinist forces. .
The Babari Masjid Movement requests all the people, as a mark of remembrance, to observe a band hall over the country and keep their shops and establishments closed up to 2P.M.
Calls upon the Imam and Khatibs of all mosques to make or allow brief speeches on the question of Babari Masjid before the Khutba and to'offer" Doa" for the restoration of the Babari Masjid site.
Decides to submit a joint Memorandum to the President and the Prime Minister seeking inter-alia effective steps to:"
(a) Expedite the on-going hearing of the title suit by the Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court, the inquiry by the Liberhan Commission and the criminal proceedings before the Special Court, as well as,
(b) Aformal assurance of restoration of the Babari Masjid site, free of all encumbrances, to the Muslim community, if the title suit is decided in its favour.
(c) Prosecution of the leaders and activists of the VHP
And the Bajrang Dal forinciting the Hindu community to occupy and demolish the Shahi Idgah in Mathura and the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi in defiance of the law of the land.
(d) Release of all those detained in connection with post-demolition disturbances who have not yet been charge-sheeted and against whom there are no heinous charges and settlement of all claims forex- gratia payment, as promised to the next-of-kin of those killed in mob violence or police firing.
The Babari Masjid Movement requests all the secular political parties to endorse and' support these just and reasonable demands and to commemorate the anniversary of the demolition to reaffirm their commitment to rule of law and secularism.
Government Statement on Referring of Babari Masjid Dispute to Supreme Court
The proposal to refer the Babari Masjid-RamJanma Bhoomi dispute to the Supreme Court under Article 138(2) of the Constitution is already on the" Common Minimum Programme" of the Government.
The proposal involves intricate legal aspects which are being analysed in detail in consultation with the Ministry of Law.
Rakesh Bhatnagar on Babari Masjid-Related Contempt Cases in Supreme Court
It is primarily because of a procedural hitch that an application seeking action against then UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, responsible officials, BJP leaders and activists of VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena, has not been taken up for hearing. Mr. Kalyan Singh had, however, undergone a day’s” symbolic" jail term for wilfully defying the court's earlier directive, based on his undertaking, that no new construction would be allowed around the structure. The chief minister as also the Union home ministry had assured the bench headed by then Chief Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, which was seized of the disputed, that no harm would be caused to the structure. Since the head of the executive had already undergone a day's imprisonment for allowing permanent construction there in July 1992, providing little protection to the structure was undoubtedly a much stronger charge, for which the perpetrators of the demolition should have been jailed for a longer term. Criminal prosecution apart, the demolition of the structure meant contempt of the court.
The court did not take suo moto cognizance of this willful disobeying of its order. Instead, a petitioner who was in the forefront of the Ayodhya dispute filed an application, which the alleged contemners said was moved after a year of the incident, and therefore the court could not entertain it dueto the expiry of limitation envisaged in the Contempt of Court Act.
Show cause notices for committing contempt had been Issued to eight leaders belonging to the five front line Hindu politico-religious organisations -L.K.Advani,Uma Bharati, M.M.Joshi(allBJP),AshokSinghal,AcharyaGirirajKishore:SadhviRithambhara(all VHP), Vinay Katiyar(BajrangDal)and Moreshwar Save (ShivSena).Besides, certain bureaucrats also faced contempt notices.
Even after two years of the notices, it was said that these could not be served on Sadhvi Rithambhara. Until this procedural formality was completed, the court could not proceed against her for abetting the demolition.
When the issue came up again for hearing before Justice G.N.Ray'sbenchon December 6, 1995, it was vehemently argued that the court could not take action as the contempt application had been filed after a year of the alleged contempt. The petitioner contended that he had moved the application well in time but the court’s registry took over a year to register it for hearing. .
The court asked the Attorney-general to inform. It in November,1996 whether it could hear the matter and also whether a notice should also be issued to the Prime Minister who was the chief executive of the country. The deadline fixed for the Attorney-general to make a statement also expired in November, but no hearing took place.
With these procedural wrangles. And the apparent waning go interest among the petitioners to pursue contempt action, the entire judicial action has been reduced to a mere academic exercise, in such a crucial case.(Source: The Times of India, 10December, 1996)
Sudheendra Kulkarni On Babri or “Barabari”
H.D. Deve Gowda, in an interview given to a major Hindi daily, has stated that the socio-economic conditions of Muslims in some parts of the country are worse than those of Dalits. Earlier, addressing a meeting of the Minorities Morcha of the BJP. Atal Bihari Vajpayee observed that the real issue before Indian Muslims was not Babri but Barabari (equality). Implicit in the remark is the admission that a majority of Muslims in India are indeed victims of inequality.
It Is not that what baby Gowda and Vajpayee have said is not already known to the rest of us..
The leaders and intellectuals of Indian Muslims should self-critically analyse why their community’s plight has added a layer of inequality and ask themselves the question, is it largely
because of our own or our past leaders ' strategic mistakes and missteps? If so, shouldn’t we take corrective steps to least now when the problem of the present is so stark that it cannot be vicious away either by hacking back to the past glory of Muslim rule or dreaming about the future promise of Da-rul-Islam.
A compelling occasion of Muslim introspective is provided by the 50th year of India’s independence. If for no other reason than the fact that the costliest Muslim misstep is anchored in the epochal event partition of India which took place in 1947. The two-nation theory has brought to Muslims India a lingering distrust in the minds of Hindus which transcends their party or caste affiliations. This distrust has not disappeared in the past five decades but assumed darker shades on account of further missteps by the dominant Muslim leadership. And let us face it, it is this distrust which manifests itself in many ugly and unjustifiable ways to produce the added layer of inequity..
One of the major Muslim missteps is post independence India has been the stand of the community’s Vocal leaders on the Ayodhya issue. This issue has also the fallen Muslim leaders have Committed and are continuing to commit in this matter is intrinsically Linked to the earlier strategic blunder the two nation theory. This linkage has been deliberately overlooked by our ultra secularists in their voluminous and vituperative Contamination of the demand of reconstructing the Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The basis of the two nation theory has elucidated in the Lahore resolution of the Muslim league in 1914 and as a tirelessly articulated by Mohammed Ali Chinna in this later years, was this notwithstanding Thousand years of close contact, There is nothing common between Muslims and Hindu spiritually, culturally, socially, linguistically or in their perception Of their separate national destinies. Such a formulation of Muslim self-identity did not leave any room for Indian Muslims to identify themselves with and to take pride in the pre-Islamic and non-Islamic culture and heritage of the land indeed advocates of the two nation theory could derive legitimacy for their demand for India’s partition only by totally disowning this heritage.
Now, isn’t the Muslim leaders' vociferous Opposition to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement also premised on their Refusal to identify themselves with and to take pride in India's pre-Islamic and non-Islamic heritage? Even lesser considerations of forgoing good neighbourly relations with Hindus would mandate the Muslims respect the sentiments of the majority community and pave the way for the temple by agreeing to relocate the Babri Mosque. The refusal to take this sensible courage, coupled with the false hope that non-BJP governments at the centre and in Lucknow would implement the Muslim demand in the matter, complicated the issue to the extent of precipitating a major confrontation. The unfortunate and undesirable outcome of this confrontation is too well known to bear description here.
But there has been yet another dimension of this outcome which is relevant to our present analysis. The statement over Ayodhya has deepened the Hindu distrust. This, in turn has further complicated ordinary Muslims legitimate search for socio-economic equity and advancement Muslim leaders and their ultra secularist non Muslim supporters would be deceiving themselves if they thought this to be true only in the states ruled by the communal fascist BJP. The fact is this is more or less the sad case in almost all the states, including those where the BJP is weak and which have long been under Congress or Janta rule.
Equally futile and self-deluding would be the Muslim leaders' hope that one or the other non-BJP governing combination of the centre would someday rebuild the Babri Mosque at the same spot. Short of converting India into a Muslim majority land, no power or ploy on Earth can make it happen. This much should be obvious even from the fact that not a single non-BJP party has pledged in its manifesto to rebuild the demolished structure. Look how PV Narasimha Rao has stopped reiterating the famous line what has been destroyed will be rebuilt even since he uttered it only once in a 1993 Independence Day speech.
Two Muslim leaders really believe that all his unprincipled hide and seek in legalism would bring back the Babri Mosque at the spot where it stood. They must realise at least now that at its heart, the issue is neither legal nor even political. Its solution will hence defy both legalism and electoral politicking. Ayodhya has to do with India's Conception of its own nationhood… Muslim leaders have an opportunity to learn from their past mistakes and make themselves and their community equal partners in nation-building. Let them come forward to remove all hurdles. This decisive gesture of goodwill generation will certainly meet the even more decisive reciprocatory Gestures from Hindu community. Together the two gestures will herald a new phase of harmonious Hindu Muslim relations in India.
For this well deserved fate to befall us, however Muslim leaders must first make their choice Babri or Barabari.
