NEW DELHI, Sep 30: The special CBI court verdict acquitting all the 32 accused of pre-planned conspiracy and declaring the demolition of the Babri Masjid to be a spontaneous act has been welcomed by the leaders of the Sangh Parivar as well as the Shiv Sena.
Leading the rest, the veteran BJP leader and one of the prime accused in the case L K Advani, said the verdict vindicated his personal and the BJP’s belief in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. “I wholeheartedly welcome the judgement by the Special Court in Babri Masjid demolition case. The judgement vindicates my personal and BJP’s belief and commitment toward the Ram Janmabhoomi movement,” Advani, who joined the court-proceedings through video conferencing, said after the judgement was delivered by the Lucknow special CBI court judge S K Yadav on Wednesday morning.
Joining Advani in hailing the court verdict was his co-accused and another veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. “It’s a historic decision by the court. This proves that no conspiracy was hatched for December 6 incident in Ayodhya. Our program and rallies were not part of any conspiracy. We are happy, everyone should now be excited about Ram Mandir’s construction,” Joshi said.
Shiv Sena, the leader of the ruling three-party alliance in Maharashtra, which despite being out of the NDA has continued to support the movement for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, also welcomed the verdict. Shiv Sena MP and party spokesman Sanjay Raut said both the party and the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray welcomed the verdict. “We should now forget the incident as grand Ram Mandir is now being built. If the Babri structure had not come down, we would not have seen the construction of the Ram temple,” said Raut.
From the Narendra Modi cabinet at the centre, among those who issued statements welcoming the court verdict were the defence minister Rajnath Singh and the civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri. “I welcome the decision of the special court of Lucknow not to join any conspiracy of 32 people including Shri LK Advani, Shri Kalyan Singh, Dr Murali Manohar Joshi, Umaji (Uma Bharati) in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The verdict has proved that justice prevailed even if it is late,” Singh wrote on Twitter.
“False narratives and conspiracy theories are finally laid to rest by the Hon’bl CBI Court in historic Babri Masjid Demolition Verdict,” Puri said. He also congratulated LK Advani and other leaders who were acquitted by the court.
Emerging from the court flashing victory sign, the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP and one of the accused in the case, Ram Vilas Vedanti, said, “It’s good. Justice done. The court agreed that we did no wrong.”
Welcoming the verdict, Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath said, “Satyamev Jayate- truth has won.” In a press statement CM said, “the then Congress government acted with political bias, indulged in vote bank politics defamed the BJP leaders, saints, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders and various social organizations by lodging false cases. The people involved in the conspiracy should apologize to the people of the country.”
The BJP’s national spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, “The detailed 2000 page judgement has rejected the CBI case that the demolition was a conspiracy and pre planned. This has been the consistent stand of the BJP and its senior leaders, which stands validated.”
He went on to add, in criminal law, evidence has to stand the scrutiny in court beyond reasonable doubt. “It must be pointed out that the CBI had submitted all the evidence prior to the formation of the Modi government,” he reminded.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also welcomed the verdict.
“After this decision, all sections of the society should come together in unity and harmony and work successfully to face the challenges before the country, and work towards the progress of this country,” RSS general secretary Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi tweeted.
(Manas Dasgupta)