Surrender of mosques out of question, says Babri panel

NEW DELHI, SEPT 14: Babri Masjid Movement Coordination Committee BMMCC convenor Syed Shahabuddin on Tuesday described the reported clai...

NEW DELHI, SEPT 14: Babri Masjid Movement Coordination Committee BMMCC convenor Syed Shahabuddin on Tuesday described the reported claim by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS chief Prof Rajendra Singh that no Muslim has offered namaz at the disputed sites of Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi as quot;blatantly falsequot; and said there was no question of quot;voluntary surrender of any mosquequot; by the Muslim community.

quot;The fact is that Muslims offered namaz in the Babri Masjid right up to the night of 22-23 December, 1949, and were forced to keep out by the unfair order of the administration, till it was demolished on December 6, 1992,quot; Shahabuddin said in a statement here.

He further stated that the Gyanvapi Mosque adjoining Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Masjid adjoining Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura were functional even on Tuesday and namaz is regularly offered therein.

Stating that both the structures were fully protected by the Places of Worship Special Provisions Act, 1991, he said, quot;there is no question of voluntary surrender of any masjid by the Muslim community, even if Prof Singh8217;s assertion that around 3,000 Hindu temples were demolished by the Muslim rulers is taken at its face value.quot;

He, however, said the BMMCC was not surprised by the demand for handover of the structures by the RSS chief. Prof Singh alias Raju Bhaiyya had at a meeting in Lucknow on Sunday reportedly urged Muslims to hand over the three quot;templesquot; to the Hindus to quot;bring a permanent peace to vexed Hindu-Muslim relationship.quot;

Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday dared the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP to distance itself from the RSS after its chief made an open call to the Muslims to hand over Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura shrines to the RSS-VHP combine.

Talking to newspersons here Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said the call ran contrary to the charter of National Democratic Alliance NDA and maintained that the real security risk to the country is posed by the Sangh Parivar including the RSS, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal. quot;These organisations shielded notorious criminals like Dara Singh who is now on a killing spree in Orissa,8221; he alleged.