The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is happy with the Apex Court decision to issue notices to L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and 20 BJP leaders, in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition case.
“We are happy with the court order and want it to start afresh the cases against these BJP leaders who were solely responsible for razing the Babri Masjid. It is no secret that they were directly involved in the conspiracy. The entire world condemned India for such a criminal act. We don’t want anybody to repeat such a crime in future and hope that the Supreme Court will take steps in this direction. We hope that these leaders would be awarded the harshest punishment in future,” said AIMPLB member and cleric Khalid Rashid Firangimahli.
In May 2010, the Allahabad High Court 2010 had upheld the verdict of a special court to drop allegation against these leaders.
Haji Mahboob, a resident of Ayodhya and petitioner in the Babri Masjid demolition case, who knocked the door of SC
seeking opening of the cases against the BJP leader, told the media persons that he was worried of the high-handedness of the BJP-led Central government.
“It was Advani who had alleged during the UPA rule that the CBI was pressing for conspiracy charges against him because of political reasons. But now there is a BJP-led government and Rajnath Singh is the Union home minister. So my apprehension is that he can have a soft corner for Advani, whom he and other BJP leaders respect a lot. He can easily tame the CBI,” Mahboob claimed.
“We are happy with the posture of the court. We are law-abiding citizens and respect our Constitution. We are ready to accept the court’s decisions in any case related to Babri Masjid. The criminal cases should be restarted against these BJP leaders and responsibilities must be fixed,” said Zafaryab Jilani, Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general and also the counsel for Sunni Central Waqf Board while reacting to the SC notice to BJP leaders.
At present, a civil suit is pending before the Apex Court about the possession of the disputed site; a number of criminal cases are pending before the Rae Bareli district court.