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Journalism of Courage
The basic case about the disputed land is a title suit. If the excavation proves there was a mandir, what will be your course of action?Aditya Saigaonkar
The dispute regarding the title of Babri Masjid, before the Special Full Bench of the Allahabad High Court, does not depend on any finding that may be given by the Archaeological Survey of India on the completion of the excavation being carried out these days. Hence, there arises no question of any course of action being suggested at this stage.
Being a representative of Muslims, can you promise that Muslims won’t start riots if the court rules in favour of Hindus?Anonymous
There is no question of riots being started by Muslims for any reason whatsoever. Three judgements have been given so far against the sentiments of the Muslim community but at no point of time have the Muslims started any riots.
As you very well know, Ayodhya is one of the most sacred places for Hindus in India, comparable to the Muslims’ Mecca and Medina. So why can’t the Muslims compromise a little and gift the disputed site to the Hindus in return for a promise that no such demands will ever be made by Hindus with reference to any other site?Anil Desai
It is incorrect to say that Ayodhya can be equated with Mecca or Medina. If Ayodhya is of importance to the Hindus because of its association with Lord Rama, it is a place of significance and importance for even the Muslims, Buddhists and Jains.
At no point of time during the last over one thousand years, for which the recorded history of Ayodhya is available, has it ever been treated as a place of significance only by the Hindus.
The birth of Lord Rama in Ayodhya cannot be historically proved in any manner and Muslims and other community members cannot be forced to believe it.
As such, there arises no question of asking the Muslims to compromise on a belief which has no foundation, historical or otherwise. Moreover, something cannot be gifted under force or coercion. A gift must be voluntary.
What, according to you, is the best solution to the dispute so that both communities may live in peace?Imad Ul Malik
The best solution is that both the parties should cooperate in expeditious adjudication of the dispute and the protagonists of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement should also unequivocaly declare that they will abide by the final verdict of the court.
The Muslims have already made such declarations. In a civilised society, such disputes can never be resolved by use of force, involvement of a third party, like a court of law, can be an honourable mode of settlement.
Is winning the Masjid-Mandir dispute the sole goal of your committee? What about working for the welfare of the 140 million Muslims in India?Sohail Mallik
The Babri Masjid Action Committee was formed for the restoration of the Babri Masjid to the Muslims. It is but natural that the goal of the said committee should be to get success in the dispute. However, you should know that the office-bearers of the committee have already been working for the welfare of the Muslim community, right from their entry in public life. For example, they are already managing a large number of educational and charitable institutions. Moreover, the struggle for restoration of Babri Masjid is by itself an effort to protect secularism and rule of law.
If excavation is the only way left to decide the existence of a temple, why were Muslim bodies opposed to it?Rohan Naik
We have never said that excavation is the only way left to decide the existence or non-existence of the so-called temple. Still, we did not challenge the order of excavation because we did not want to give the impression that we are afraid of the said excavation work. I do not think that any recognised Muslim organisation has opposed it.
How does the Babri Masjid restoration help Islam in India, or anywhere else? Except for putting BJP on the throne, has the entire Ayodhya dispute helped anyone?R. Sajan
The Babri Masjid has become a symbol for the protection and preservation of mosques and other places of worship facing threat from the Fascist forces. It is not the question of only one mosque.
The restoration of Babri Masjid may not be of much help to the cause of Islam but its surrender will definitely give the message that the Muslims of India are not acting as Muslims having full faith in God. To say that the Ayodhya dispute has helped the BJP may be partially right but the responsibility for that lies with the secular forces like the Congress, which allowed the communal forces to build up the movement.
As a Muslim, and as the convener of the action committee, I am of the view that if we had not faced the onslaught of the movement, a situation like the Mumbai or Gujarat riots could not have been avoided in Uttar Pradesh also.
A huge amount of funds was raised in the name of Babri Masjid. Where has this money gone? Why don’t you spend it in founding more educational institutes for the community instead?Javed
We have yet to know who raised the ‘‘huge amount’’ of funds or who donated the money. If anyone has any knowledge about this, they should get in touch with the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee.
