NEW DELHI, 21 September 2003 — The All India Muslim Personal Law Board yesterday said that it would appeal the Rae Bareli court verdict exonerating Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani from involvement in the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
“Muslims will not let Advani go scot-free in the Ayodhya trial and will challenge the Rae Bareli court decision in a higher court in case the CBI fails to file a revision petition soon, board member Zafaryab Jilani said here.
“Advani had actively taken part in the demolition by provoking, inciting and conspiring with others who actually pulled down the structure and should not go unpunished,” Jilani, also the convener of the All India Babri Masjid action committee, said.
He said a board meeting scheduled for Oct. 18 in the Bihar state capital Patna would discuss the issue and pursue the matter on its own after taking legal opinion.
Jilani said Friday’s verdict has proved beyond doubt that the CBI had “diluted” the charges against Advani.
Hindu hard-liners remained defiant. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad or VHP pledged to forge ahead with its campaign to build a grand temple at the mosque site in Ayodhya.
The VHP insisted that its four leaders to be charged in the demolition case had committed no crime and the court ruling would only bolster the temple drive that has preoccupied politics in India for well over a decade.
“We will continue our movement and nothing will stop us,” Giriraj Kishore asserted.
Kishore was one of four VHP leaders against whom the court ordered framing of charges for inciting Hindu mobs to tear down the 16th-century Babri Mosque, which sparked Hindu-Muslim violence and virtually changed the face of Indian politics.
Kishore said: “The verdict makes us more determined to stay the course. Many leaders made sacrifices for the past 400 years for the Ram janmabhoomi (Ram birthplace).”
While exonerating Advani, the court ordered framing of charges against Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati and Vinay Katiyar — all from the Bharatiya Janata Party and four VHP leaders — Kishore, Ashok Singhal, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and Sadhvi Ritambhara.
