BABRI MASJID                               

Shahabiddin's Letter to Salman Khurshid On Babari Masjid Dispute, 7 June, 1997

I am much concerned about your reiteration of your suggestion to resolve the Babari Masjid Question by referendum. I had written to you briefly on it when it was first reported in the press. I did not hear from you as I expected. And it is impossible to get through to you through your protective screens!

My first point is that conflicts of interest which can be or have been translated into legal currency can only be resolved by recourse to the rule of law. A referendum cannot decide a question of fact or of law.

Secondly, I am not aware of any precedent, internal or international.

But what is more important is that the terms of the proposed referendum s stated by you indicate that the crux of the problem has not been grasped. The issue is not, has never been, whether a Ram temple and/or a Masjid should be built in Ayodhya. The question is where they should be built and, to be more precious, whether a masjid or a mandir or something else should stand on the Babari Masjid site. Once the problem is transparently stated, I am afraid that the Hindutva forces by playing upon the religious sentiments shall have the upper hand. I am not sure if the Congress or other secular parties shall advise the people to vote for Masjid! Sangh Parivar shall openly advise everyone to vote for Mandir. Secular forces shall remain silent. If political parties do not have the courage to speak out, if a 'secular’ government’s nerves fail, as they have in the past, how do you expect the people to make a morally and legally correct choice?

Civil Services etc. Examinations, 1996 List of Successful Candidates

I-Candidates from Hamdard Study Circle, New Delhi

In addition 2 General, 3 OBC, 2 SC & 1ST, 8 in all also qualified.

II - Other Candidates:

1.Shaheena Husain

2.Hoveyda Abbad

3.Mohd. Irshad Haider

4.Irfan Ahmad

5.Ghulam Mustafa

6.Nafis Ahmad

7.Khurshid Ahmad

8.A.N. Safeena

9.Mohd. Ali Ashraf

10. Shamim A. Tamanna

11. P.K. Mohammad Yusuf

Muslim Leaders' Joint Letter to Advani, 23 August, 1990

We have read with considerable interest your statement in the 14th August, 1990 issue of the Times of India (Delhi edition). We assume that it should be possible to ensure that once the matter relating to the above dispute is settled the status of all places of worship as on August 15, 1947 will hold good and no attempt will be made to change it. It seem to us that your suggestion holds the promise of an amicable settlement a lot of groundwork will have to be done on either side to create public opinion in favour of a just and proper agreed settlement an issue in which emotions are deeply evolved should not be tackled in the spirit of scoring a point.

In the larger national interest, it is essential that a settlement satisfactory to both the communities is arrived at amicably. We understand that prolonged discussions in the past proved abortive. But that should not deter us.

Now that you have personally taken the initiative in case it suits you, we shall be happy to call and have an exploratory discussion. On the basis of our preliminary discussion, it should be possible to muster broad-based support.

Badruddin Tyabji                    Saiyid Hamid              Col. B.H. Zaidi

(Note- According to S. Hamid reply was received -Editor)

"Elections and their corruption, injustice and life power and tyranny of wealth and inefficiency of administration will make hell of life as soon as freedom is given to us. Men would look regretfully back to the old regime of comparative justice and honest efficient, peaceful, more or less honest administration."-C. Rajagopalachari.