Babari Mosque case verdict annoys citizens

LAHORE :Majority of citizens have criticised a decision of the Indian Supreme Court in the Babari Mosque case whereas security was beefed up at Krishna Mandir, the only active Hindu temple in the provincial metropolis.

On Saturday, the Indian Supreme Court decided the decades-old case of Babari Masjid and handed over the mosque’s land to Hindus for the construction of Ram Mandir. The decision spread anger among citizens of Lahore and almost every citizen criticised the decision in their meetings, personal talks and on social media.

A citizen on twitter said “Well, today is the opening ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor but once again India gives the decision against Muslims over there. Hence proved Modi’s RSS is promoting hate against minority Muslims in so-called secular country India. Another post said Pakistan is promoting interfaith harmony and religious tolerance and the other hand India's extremist mindset exposed - completely neglecting the rights of minorities.

Humza Choudhary tweeted “The verdict of Indian Supreme Court is a message to global community that India is no longer secular. India is becoming a Hindu state and minorities as slaves. On Allama Iqbal's birthday, Iqbal's Two Nation Theory proved right and stands vindicated today.” “That day when Pakistan feels more secular than India and you feel proud. Pakistan - land of all religions, Hindustan - land of one religion,” said Umer Khan in a Facebook comment. “9th Nov will be remembered as a day when Pakistan welcomed the Sikh neighbors with open arms and showed reverence for their religious site. While India not just endorsed the vandalism of #BabriMasjid but gave the land to Hindus by making a mockery of justice,” said Shabnam on twitter.

On the other hand, Shakeel Ahmed, a shopkeeper sitting next door to a temple in Model Town E block said after Kashmir’s annexation, if there was ever any doubt that India is a secular state, today’s verdict had removed it. He said Modi had started religious fanaticism in the region. After partition there were a lot of temples in the city but in 1992 most of them were closed down and Jain Mandir at Anarkali was one of them. Jain Mandir was attacked after Hindu extremists attacked Babari Masjid in Ayodhiya. Similarly, many temples situated in Model Town, Walled City of Lahore, Brandreth Road and many other city localities were closed down.

Saleem Sheikh, another shopkeeper of the same market, said that the decision showed the weakness of our government which first gave in on the Kashmir issue and now the Babri mosque. He said our PM inaugurated Kartarpur Gurdawara and he should have criticised the decision in the ceremony.

Khwaja Awais, a resident of Anarkali, said the government of Pakistan should react strongly to the decision. “Mere statements by political forces are not enough,” he said adding the government should take up the issue to international forums. Meanwhile, Jai Prakash Moorani, a senior journalist from Hyderabad, Sindh, thinks “It’s a complicated, zigzag type judgment which is given under political and extremist pressure. It is going to be challenged soon in the Supreme Court as Asaduddin Awaisi has said and then the case will take some decades more for another judgment. It will create some type of havoc in Indian society and also affect regional peace.” Asked if there will be any extremist repercussions in Pakistan, he said, “I don’t think so because at present law enforcement agencies are working very hard on national security plan and such situations are not in national interest.

We are facing hard times politically and economically so the government will hit hard if some extremist elements try to sabotage national peace.” Asked what the government and the people need to do so that there is no extremist violence, he said, “just ensure interfaith harmony as the PM stated today while inaugurating the Kartarpur Corridor. The judgment can be condemned but not at the cost of lives of our own countrymen.” Ram Kirshan, another journalist who writes for Sindhi papers said, “It’s very shocking to hear the judgment by an Indian court on the same day while Pakistan opens the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh pilgrims. The grounds for the judgment are very weak. This shows that India extremist camps have overcome their courts too. The judgment is the last nail in the coffin of Indian secularism as they are going to be very extremist by their religious point of view. The space for Muslim minorities is getting very narrow in India. It is not just the Muslims, the country has become very dangerous for lower castes of Hindus.”