.. The Quran explicitly prohibits the demolition of places of worship of others ... That is the reason the Grand Imam of Masjidul Haram, the holiest mosque attached to the Kaaba, stated, during his recent visit to India, that if there was really a temple at Ayodhya where the Babari Masjid stood, then that site could not be used for a mosque and must be handed over to the Hindus. I told Mr. L.K. Advani, the Union Home Minister, when I saw him recently that instead of seeking a solution of the dispute through legislation or even consultation, he should ask the Supreme Court to decide whether a temple existed at the site. There need be no legal quibbling about it: whether the reference should be under this or that article of the Constitution. The judges should be requested to determine the fact of the existence of the temple; if there was one, no Muslim can object to the construction of a temple. The religious position is clear. Moreover, to ascertain the fact should not be difficult because the event took place as late as in the sixteenth century ...                                                                                                                           (Source: The Hindu, 10 May, 1998)

Shahabuddin's Letter to Rafiq Zakaria 12 May, 1998

I have read your advice to the Home Minister L. K. Advani. it is apparent that you do not realise the long- term affect of your advice. It will keep the judiciary engaged for a century or more to deal with one religious group's claim against another over the original complexion of the places of worship! That is why the Parliament passed the 1991 law to protect the status of places of worship as on 15.8.1947. This is the law which the BJP is committed to repeal.

Secondly, there is no law, even otherwise in our country under which a functional place of worship may be handed over to or taken possession of by, another religious group on a historical ground.

Incidentally, what you have suggested is already before the Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court as one of the issues in the title suit. Your advice should have been rendered to the Muslim community, to the leaders of the AIMPLB and the Babari Masjid Movement. Your advice to Advani sounds more like a move to cury favour with a new regime, forgive me for saying so. After all, Darbardari is in our genes.