Pinning hope that the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case will be based on “evidence and not faith”, prominent organisation of Muslim clerics Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind on Wednesday said it will respect the apex court’s ruling in the matter. The organisation also appealed to Muslims to abide by the top court’s decision on the issue.
The Babri Masjid case is not just a case of land dispute but a test case of the supremacy of the law, Jamiat chief Syed Arshad Madani said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
“We believe SC will decide on the basis of law and not on faith,” Madani said.
“Every justice-loving person wants the case should be adjudicated on the basis of hard facts and evidence not on the basis of faith and belief ,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court also made it amply clear that it is only a title suit case.
“The debate in the court is over, now we await the judgment. Our lawyer Rajeev Dhawan has made a very strong argument based on facts and we are confident that the decision will be in our favour. But, we have said time and again, the country is ours, the law is ours and the Supreme Court is ours. We have given evidence, whatever judgment is made, we will respect it,” he said. “We want to urge all citizens that they should respect the law and maintain peace in the country irrespective of whether the verdict is in favour or against,” he said. Referring to his meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in August, Madani said, the basis of that meeting was maintaining Hindu-Muslim unity.
“I am happy that, while sticking to our respective views, we have agreed on the point that Hindu-Muslim unity should be maintained in the country at all times. They (RSS) are also trying for this and we are also trying,” he said. Madani’s remarks come a day after, senior RSS and BJP leaders reached out to prominent Muslim clerics and intellectuals and held a meeting with them during which it was stressed that irrespective of the nature of the court ruling there should neither be ‘junooni jashn’ (excessive celeberation) nor ‘haar ka hungama’ (brouhaha over defeat).
The meeting was held at the residence of Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and was attended by RSS leaders Krishna Gopal and Ramlal, former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind general secretary Mahmood Madani, Shia cleric Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawwad and filmmaker Muzaffar Ali.
The SC is set to give its ruling in the emotive and politically-sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case before Novexmber 17 as Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who is heading the Constitution bench in the matter, demits office that day upon retirement from service.