Demolition of Babri Mosque: Supreme Court incriminates three Bjp leaders
Lal Krishna Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried within four weeks. The sentence will be issued at most within two years. Former Chef Minister of Uttar Pradesh escapes court proceedings thanks to governor immunity. Ram Puniyani: "Hopes of Justice After 25 Years".
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The Supreme Court of India has decided that three prominent leaders of the Hindu nationalist party Bjp (Bharatiya Janata Party) will go to trial for conspiring to demolish the Babri mosque in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh).
According to the judges, on December 6, 1992, Lal Krishna Advani (former vice premier), Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti (current Union Minister) incited a crowd of 150,000 Hindu radicals to destroy Babri Masjid because the mosque was on the remains of a temple dedicated to the god Ram. Speaking to AsiaNews, Ram Puniyani, president of the Center for Study and Secularism in Mumbai, says, "For 25 years no justice has been done. After a long delay, there is hope now. "
According to Puniyani, so far the question "has never been tackled seriously." Moreover, the decision of the Supreme Court "decrees a situation that was evident from the beginning: the conspiracy of Hindu exponents, armed with heavy vehicles and ropes". This emerges from the fact that "volunteers had been formed before the demolition. Only those who had been formed were given permission to approach the mosque, while the leaders continued to pronounce provocative slogans that incited the destruction of the structure. "
Supreme Court Judges P C Ghose and R F Nariman decided to transfer the case from Rae Bareli to Lucknow. This implies that the two cases - the conspiracy charge the Sangh leader and the mosque demolition by the so-called "karsevaks" (volunteers) - will be carried out simultaneously. The decision will speed up judicial proceedings, as the Court ordered the beginning of the trial within four weeks. The three defendants, together with other Hindu exponents and witnesses, will have to appear every day in the courtroom and the sentence will be issued in no more than two years. The only one who has escaped the proceedings for the time being is Kalyan Singh, at the time of the events, Chief State Minister of Uttar Pradesh and current Rajasthan governor, who enjoys immunity.
The Babri Masjid story is emblematic of Hindu nationalist extremist politics. The story of the Babri Masjid is emblematic of the Hindu nationalists' political extremism. Built in 1528 in Ayodhya - which Indian tradition considers the birthplace of Ram (incarnation of the god Vishnu) - it has been the center of disputes between Muslims and Hindus for centuries. Called to Ayodhya for a symbolic ceremony to launch the construction of Hindu temple, on December 6, 1992 Sangh Parivar activists set upon the mosque, tearing down the three domes in less than three hours. The assault sparked violent clashes occurred throughout the country between Hindus and Muslims, leading to the death of at least 2,000 people.
At the announcement of the Supreme Court's decision, Salman Soz, the spokesman for Congress, said Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti should resign from their respective parliamentary posts. Conversely, members of the Bjp are gathering in support around their colleagues and complain that the allegations are unfounded.
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