NEW DELHI ― BJP veteran L.K. Advani, who led the Ram Janmabhoomi movement against the Babri Masjid in the early nineties, said the Supreme Court judgment on the Ayodhya issue has vindicated his stand.
The Supreme Court has granted the site of the demolished Babri Masjid to the Hindu parties to build a temple, while ordering that the Muslim litigants be given a 5 acre alternative site to construct a mosque.
Sangbad Pratidin, a leading Bengali daily, carried a reaction from Advani. It says: “After the demolition of Babri Masjid I wrote an essay in a newspaper and said, “I am sad.” After the Supreme Court verdict, I can say, this (the verdict) will remain as one of the most memorable, joyous chapters of my life.”
In 1990, Advani carried out the Rath Yatra that would lead to the destruction of the mosque by Hindu karsevaks, two years later. He is accused of making inflammatory remarks on the day the Babri Masjid was demolished, encouraging the mobs to charge the mosque.
“The legitimacy of what I started has been established by the Supreme Court.
The day the movement for the Ram Mandir started I repeatedly tried to explain that it is not a simple religious issue, ” Advani said in relation to the verdict.
“This is Bharat Mata’s temple. Indian-ness is established through Ram and Ramayana. Ram is associated with cultural nationalism. I went to the commission at Vigyan Bhavan and repeatedly tried to explain this,” he said. “Ram and Ramayana has an unbreakable bond with Indian civilisation and heritage.”
More than 2,000 people were killed in the communal riots that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid. Advani went on to become the Deputy Prime Minister of India. He is currently facing criminal proceedings in the Babri demolition case.
Advani said, “It is a big thing that the Mandir-Masjid dispute has been settled through this verdict. Ayodhya will witness the building of the nation’s temple.
We will prepare India to be powerful, developed, peaceful and united.”