Babri was, will always remain a masjid, says AIMPLB

Quoting the Board’s general secretary, Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani, it noted, “It has always been our position that the Babri Masjid was never built by demolishing any mandir or any Hindu place of worship. The Supreme Court has also affirmed our position in its judgment…”

“The Supreme Court has clearly stated that namaz was offered in the masjid till the night of December 22, 1949 (when idols were placed inside the central dome). The Supreme Court also accepted that placing of the idols in the masjid…was an illegal act. It accepts in its judgment that demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, was an illegal, unconstitutional and criminal act. It is indeed regrettable that after accepting all these facts, the apex court in an extremely unjust verdict handed over land of the masjid to people who had placed idols in the mosque in a criminal manner and were party to its criminal demolition.” Since the Supreme Court is the highest court of the land, “we have no other option but to accept the judgment, however we will definitely say that it was an unjust and unfair judgment,” Rahmani stated.

AIMPLB member Mufti Ejaz Arshad said, “Whatever has happened has been a grave injustice. For us, it will always be a masjid and Babri Masjid will always be in our hearts. We have read namaaz there for 500 years, so it won’t suddenly stop being a masjid. Like our general secretary has used the very apt example of Hagia Sophia (in Istanbul), where namaz used to be read at one point. We rest on such hopes…”