LUCKNOW, 24 June — Giving a new twist to the eight-year-old Babri Mosque demolition case late Friday, one of the 26 accused persons has confessed to his direct involvement in the event, even as a special court here ruled that it would next hear the case July 27.
Ram Narain Das, a priest, took everyone by surprise when he said he was directly involved in the Dec. 6, 1992 demolition of the 16th century Babri Mosque in the temple town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. “I have no qualms about admitting that I was actually involved in the demolition of the structure in Ayodhya. But, I would like to know whether the structure was a temple or a mosque,” Das said, adding that he had already filed an affidavit to this effect in court.
“If it were a temple then sure enough I have a right to pull down my temple for the sake of its renovation. But if it were to be described as a mosque, then tell me what was the deity of Ram doing inside it?” Das asked reporters. “I am willing to face the worst punishment if they (the court) thinks I have committed any crime by pulling down the structure,” he pointed out. The demolition of the mosque by Hindu fanatics had sparked off large-scale rioting and communal killings in several parts of the country. At Friday’s hearing in a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, 12 of the 26 remaining accused appeared in person. Counsel represented the remaining 14.
Charges against 21, including Home Minister L.K. Advani, Human Resource Minister M.M. Joshi, Sports Minister Uma Bharati and several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders were dropped last month following a high court order.
The CBI had also filed a revision petition in the high court on June 19, challenging the special court’s order of May 4 dropping proceedings against 21 accused.
Meanwhile, the leader of opposition Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, has once again urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to intervene and sort out the issue of notification in the demolition case.
