By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: In a “progressive” move, Syed Shahabuddin, a veteran of the struggle for Babri Masjid and president, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) on Wednesday urged the secular forces in the country including historians, archeologists and lawyers to join the legal fight for the Babri Masjid title suit.
The former diplomat called upon all “professional bodies representing lawyers, historians & archeologists and the civil society, in general and progressive & secular elements in particular” to come together to challenge the Ayodhya verdict by the Allahabad verdict which can endanger the secular fabric of Indian Constitution.
Syed Shahabuddin
Mr. Shahabuddin also urged “all the prominent Muslim organizations, religious denominations, religious seminaries and the Babri Masjid Movement” to join the appeal to be filed on the behalf of Muslims in the Supreme Court against the HC verdict.
It is important to mention here that the Sunni Central Waqf Board which is the main litigant from the Muslim side has already decided to approach the apex court in this case.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) too will join the appeal as an intervener.
The AIMM president also suggested that in order to formulate a common legal strategy, the Board should “set up a Babri Masjid Legal Defense Committee, separate and distinct from its Legal Cell or Committee on Babri Masjid,” and invite lawyers and jurists from all over the country.
JUH endorsed appeal in SC
In another development Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) also supported the move to challenge the Ayodhya verdict in the higher court. In a meeting of its national executive on Tuesday, it agreed that “Muslims can never give up their claim to any part of the mosque which has been used as a mosque uninterruptedly for the last four hundred years.”
Interestingly this approach by the JUH is contrary to the stand of Mahmood Madani, its prominent leader two weeks back when he had made a controversial appeal to Muslims to accept the Allahabad HC verdict.
The JUH also authorized an expert committee to decide future course of action in this case in consultation with senior lawyers. The committee consists of Maulana Mohammad Usman, Mahmood Madani, Delhi High Court lawyer Niaz Ahmad Farooqui and SC lawyers Maulana Moiezuddin and Shakeel Ahmad Syed.