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A special court of the IWC in Lucknow has ruled that the demolition of the historic Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, was not planned in advance. Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav delivered the verdict on Wednesday.
All of the defendants in the 26-year-old case have been acquitted.
Of the 49 defendants in the case, 17 have already died, including Ashok Singhal of the Hindu World Council, Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena and Paramahansa Ramchandra Das of Ayodhya, while 32 are still alive.
Today, 26 of the 32 defendants were ordered to appear in court. The other six participated in the announcement of the verdict by videoconference. Accusations of conspiracy, planning and incitement to demolish the mosque were directed against strong BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, former ministers Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharati.
Lalkrishna Advani, 92, and Murli Manohar Joshi, 8, did not appear in court citing health reasons for the coronavirus epidemic. Kalyan Singh was also unable to appear in court because he was recovering from a corona infection.
Uma Bharati could not be present in court today because she was in the hospital suffering from a corona. “It is an honor for me to be a part of the Ayodhya movement,” she told Indian media before the verdict was announced. I will not ask for bail if I am sentenced to go to jail. ‘
According to the Hindustan Times, many of the defendants confessed to demolishing the mosque outside of court prior to the verdict. BJP leader Vedanti said he was willing to hang for Lord Ram.
The then head of Shiv Sena of North India, Bhagwan Goel, said in court that he had admitted responsibility for the demolition of the mosque.
Shiv Sena, one of the defendants out of court, Pawan Pandey told the media: “If I am punished, I will consider this birth a success in the service of Lord Rama.”
“Breaking down the mosque is a miracle,” said defendant Acharya Dharmendra.
Earlier this month, the court recorded the statements of the 32 defendants.
It should be noted that the 15th century mosque, named after the Mughal Emperor Babur, is said to have been built by Emperor General Mir Baki. Many have claimed that the place where the mosque was built was Ram’s birthplace. They claim that the mosque was built by demolishing an old temple.
On December 6, 1992, the centennial Babri Masjid was demolished. At least 1,600 people were killed in communal riots across India at that time.
In November, the Supreme Court of India ordered the construction of a Ram temple on the site of the mosque.
