December 6 has been observed in the past in many ways like black day, demand for justice and punishment for those involved in the demolition of the historic Babri Masjid. For some the demolition was an attack on the secular fabric of the nation, an attack on the spirit of the Constitution and furthermore an attack on the very idea of India.
The Muslim side always reposed its faith in the Supreme Court and maintained that they will abide by the verdict of the Apex Court in anticipation that the highest palladium of justice will give its verdict on the basis of facts rather than faith and asthaa. But the Supreme Court gave its final verdict based on the asthaa of majoritarianism, for peace in the country and certainly not on the merit of the case as has been opined by many legal luminaries. However, the acquittal of all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid Demolition Case by a Special Court reminds us of the famous headline, “No one Killed Jessica,” of the Times of India on February 22, 2006.
According to John Dayal, a noted social and human rights activist, “Almost three decades after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, political analysts and researchers have still not been able to get authentic corroboration if it was by a sheer coincidence, or in a calculated design, that in 1992 the Bajrang Dal-RSS-BJP cadres chose December 6 to light the fuse that would shatter the civilizational secular peace that the Constitution had guaranteed India. December 6, the day the martyrdom of the 500-year old mosque, is also the day, of course, when the chief architect of the Constitution, Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar was born.”
Dayal added, “The demolition led to violence, and has polarised the country once again in no less a manner than the Partition did. If the memories of Partition have fuelled the Sangh mobilisation for politics, violence and murder, the Babri demolition has seared the psyche of the Indian Muslim, and with him, of civil society as also other religious minorities. If this can happen, anything can happen. Religious minorities remember even as they continue to mark 31October 1984 as a day when innocent Sikhs fell victim to a near genocide. That the justice apparatus forgets all this, overlooks its own conclusion that the claims on the land by the temple officials were baseless, that the idols of Hindu gods had been infiltrated, breaking the law of the land, and rules, in effect, that the majority demands have to be met.”
“The pandering to majority religious sentiment, seen in judicial pronouncements all too often in recent years, is the one message that has stunned all religious minorities, ethnic groups, and even women, who constitute half of the nation’s population. The justice system has succumbed to majority pressure, and eviscerated the Constitution of its very soul – equality before law, secularism and trust in the institutions of the state,” alleged Dayal.
Sharing his perspective on the issue, Tasleem Rehmani, President Muslim Political Council, said, “December 6 will always remain a black day for India as the demolished Babri Masjid couldn’t get justice although tallest court of the country admitted it was a century’s old lawful practising mosque which was demolished by a criminal act. It was not built by desecrating any temple. Still the court verdict allowing a Ram temple on the mosque site is not only astonishing but an open act of justice denied. Furthermore, a lower court order to acquit all criminals responsible for the demolition of the mosque proves another example of erroneous justice system.
“So, the fight for justice will carry on until it is done. We will continue to demand for restoration of the Babri Masjid, to punish the guilty of hatching conspiracy for Babri Masjid demolition as concluded by the Liberahan Commission, to punish those who physically brought down the mosque denying all law and order system, and to protect other religious places as prescribed in Religious Places Maintenance Act 1991 by strengthening it further by incorporate provisions of cognisance therein,” said Rahmani.
Rahmani added that to press all above demands, people shall peacefully gather as usual. Things are worsening further during this year with Allahabad High Court order to acquit the towering politicians of the country who openly and proudly admit they are responsible for the demolition of Babri Masjid. Such verdicts pose a larger threat to the Constitution and justice delivery system. People may say due to Covid such public demonstrations shall be avoided. But we have seen large and usual public rallies during Bihar and other elections at a number of places. Even PM has attended such rallies without keeping in view any Covid measures like masks and social distancing. Large farmers protests are going on all over the country with large crowds without observing any such measures, then why shall it be applied only to Babri protests?