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Babri Masjid case: Long road to justice still

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DailyBiteMay 31, 2017 | 09:16

Babri Masjid case: Long road to justice still

Twenty-five years since the destruction of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, a special CBI court today (May 30) finally framed charges against the demolishers of the five century-old Mughal-era mosque. BJP stalwarts like Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Union cabinet minister Uma Bharti, as well as VHP leaders such as Vinay Katiyar, Sadhvi Ritambara, Ram Vilas Vendanti, Champat Rai and Dharam Das – have been all charged with Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code that stands for criminal conspiracy.

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Interestingly, the hearing happened in Lucknow and the presence of Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath – who had earlier branded the Mughals as invaders and Maharana Pratap as the true Rajput hero – was unmissable. The UP CM had visited Advani today at his VVIP guesthouse. Evidently, this was to lend as much political weight to the case, and present the original crusaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that led to the destruction of the Bbari mosque as the real stars of an increasingly Hindutva-embracing India.

Earlier, in April this year, the Supreme Court had ruled that the BJP stalwarts would face trial for conspiracy charges in the Babri Masjid demolition case and also to wrap up the case within two years. The star-studded appearance of the BJP-VHP old guard in Lucknow today, therefore, was about the beginning of a major political spectacle unfolding over the next two years, sure to keep the Hindutva pot boiling.

Advani, Bharti, Joshi and the rest were granted bail on personal bonds of Rs 20,000 each, along with the commencement of the hearing in the case today. The court also rejected the discharge petitions for the accused and dictated its order framing charges against them.

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Moreover, the Babri Masjid accused were also facing trial for making provocative speeches before the mosque was razed to the ground by karsevaks. As per the SC direction, the hate speech and incitement to violence case has been clubbed with the current one and shifted from a Rae Bareli court to Lucknow for a joint trial.

Advani’s presidential bid foiled?

LK Advani, one of the strongest contenders for the post of the President of India, will certainly see his chances of bagging the nominated post tarnished because of the ongoing case. The 89-year-old had seen the 2017 presidential polls as a compensation for losing out on the PM seat, after Modi, his protégé, rose to prominence in the BJP horizon and rode a huge mandate to power.

It is also ironical that Advani is facing trial for the most momentous time of his political career that singlehandedly scripted the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and saw its crescendo in the Babri demolition. In 2001, a special CBI court had dropped charges against him, and the verdict was endorsed by the Allahabad high court in 2010.

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Hindutva rehearsal for 2019?

There have been speculations on the timing of the Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi case and the SC order asking for the charges to be framed against the alleged accused leaders of the BJP. Commentators couldn’t help but observe that the two years that would be taken by the CBI court to try the leaders involved with the mob of karsevaks razing the mosque to the ground are also the two remaining in the current stint of the Modi regime.

As our columnists have argued in these pages, contrary to the media hype that justice is finally catching up with the Babri accused and the Supreme Court is intervening at last to ensure the perpetrators are brought to the book, the public spectacle of the Ram Janmabhoomi leaders facing trial to perhaps eventually be exonerated by the court of law could do wonders for the BJP-led NDA government.

Fast-tracking of the case and not allowing for adjournments would only mean intense debates on an issue that has been at the heart of the Sangh Parivar-driven agenda will hog the national headlines for the next two years. The possibility that this would lead to intense communal polarisation along Hindu-Muslim lines is something none of us can afford to ignore.

BJP has brute majority not only in the Lok Sabha, but also in the UP Assembly. What would the Babri Masjid case hearing amount to for the soaring fortunes of Narendra Modi-led NDA?

Last updated: May 31, 2017 | 09:16
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