It held that those accused of the conspiracy were attempting to prevent a demolition of the masjid and that it was anti-social elements that climbed the dome of the masjid and brought it down. It also held that the authenticity of the audio and video tapes that the CBI tabled cannot be proved. The accused in the case included former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, former Union Ministers M M Joshi, Uma Bharati and various others. All have been acquitted.
In effect, almost three decades after the Babri Masjid was brought down on December 6, 1992, India is no closer to knowing who was responsible for the act, except that it was some anti-social elements who climbed the dome.
Will the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who probed the case now appeal the verdict in a higher court? It can and it should, for a verdict such as the one that has come in a case that has political and religious ramifications cannot lead to the case being closed. The judgement also reflects very poorly on the investigative abilities of the country’s leading police probing agency. CBI too has to answer, that if they could ot provide conclusive evidence of a pre-planned conspiracy to demolish the Masjid, why did it even file a chargesheet stating this in the case? Couldn’t the investigations have been more thorough? If CBI does not appeal than the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has said it would. But if CBI wants to maintain its independence and prove that it is above political pressure, it should appeal in the case and do so immediately.
One has to go back 28 years to understand what occurred at Ayodhya on the fateful day. There was a movement that was led by Advani who took out a rath yatra that covered a a great part of the nation and culminated at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, the day on which the masjid was brought down. Advani and others charged with the conspiracy were at Ayodhya that day. The question is, if it was not pre-planned, how did thousands of people reach Ayodhya on that day? The demolition sparked violence in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere that led of the killing of some 2,000 people. It also changed the course of India’s politics leading to the rise of the right wing. The September 30 judgement is therefore quite contentious as it could lead to stoke the simmering feeling of discontent and marginalisation among the Muslim that came after last year’s Supreme Court verdict that awarded the land to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and offered the Muslims an alternative site for a mosque. Since then the foundation stone for the Ram temple has already been laid at the site and the shrine is expected to be completed in the coming years.
The investigation after 28 years has not been able to conclusively prove who was involved. After almost three decades, we now are told that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was a spontaneous act. If so, then we need to know who were those anti-social elements who climbed the dome of the masjid and brought it down. Will this be investigated? Will the perpetrators of the demolition arrested and justice delivered? There are pictures and videos of the demolition, so these persons can still be identified. The Babri masjid demolition case needs closure but this judgement has left it open. It cannot remain that way.