The Supreme Court has decided to continue the final hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case on February 8 next year, brushing aside a plea to postpone it till after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as the final verdict would have political and electoral repercussions.
The Sunni Waqf Board’s stand, presented by its lawyer Kapil Sibal, a senior Congress leader, took on a political hue outside the court, with Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah asking Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to clear his stand on the Ram temple issue.
The apex court began the final hearing of the case at a time when the Congress and the BJP are engaged in a political battle in poll-bound Gujarat, where the Opposition party is aspiring to dislodge the BJP from power after 22 years.
By 9:43 AM BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao tells CNN-News18 that “I want to ask Congress how the Sunni Waqf Board comes out with this new idea of postponing hearing on Ram Mandir,”.
By 10.40AM All areas of Ayodhya have police presence, with bomb disposal squads on alert.
By 11 AM CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury says: “Today happens to be the 25th anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition that remains to be a black spot in the history of modern India. That has been the biggest assault on the secular democratic foundation of our country.” The CPM along with other Left parties will observe ‘Black Day’ on Wednesday to commemorate the 25th year of Babri Masjid’s demolition.
By 11:05AM BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tells that “He (Sibal) just gave his arguments on the political level, as they will lose the elections if they lose this (Ayodhya) case.”
Ahead of the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, the Centre has asked all the states to remain cautious and ensure peace, so that no incident of communal tension is reported from anywhere in the country.
*Appearing for the Sunni Waqf Board on Tuesday, a plaintiff in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, Kapil Sibal took strong objection to the manner in which the hearing was expedited on the request of “someone (BJP leader Subramanian Swamy) who is not even a party in the case”.