Mr.Syed Shahabuddin, President All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat(AIMMM) & Convener Babri Masjid Movement Co-ordination Committee (BMMCC) has issued the following statement;
‘The 15th Anniversary of the Demolition of the Babri Masjid falls on Thursday 6 December 2007.
The Demolition has become a landmark in post independence history. It was a national tragedy and a matter of shame for the government and the people of secular state.
The AIMMM and the BMMCC regret that 15 years later the people of India, particularly the Muslims and other secular-minded people, are still waiting for the report of the Ayodhaya Commission of Inquiry, for the prosecution of the culprits named in the FIR and identified during subsequent police investigations and for the final judicial verdict on the title to the disputed site.
The AIMMM and the BMMCC note that the title suit has made considerable progress despite the tactics of deliberate delay adopted by the other side. But the final argument has begun and it is hoped that the Special Bench shall deliver its verdict within 2008 which will open the door for the execution of the road-map drawn by the Supreme Court in 1994.
The Muslim Community has repeatedly committed itself to accept the final judicial verdict but the Hindutva forces headed by the VHP have continued to proclaim publicly that they shall not abide by the verdict, if it goes against them. The AIMMM and the BMMCC once again request the Union Government to reiterate its commitment, preferably on the floor of the Parliament, that the final judicial verdict, whatever it be, shall be accepted and executed without any hesitation. This would serve to caution the Hindutva forces against launching another agitation, if they lose the case.
The AIMMM and the BMMCC deplore the fact that no one has yet been punished for planning, organizing and executing the Demolition. Criminal prosecution under the two FIRs 197/92 and 198/92 has been deliberately circumvented and subverted by the accused and the successive State Governments of UP have aided them by failing to issue a fresh notification to facilitate joint trial under both the FIRs by the same Special Court.
The AIMMM and the BMCC reiterate their request to the present Government of UP to issue the necessary notification and thus place criminal prosecution on the right track.
The AIMMM and the BMMCC consider it extremely unfortunate and deplorable that the Liberhan Commission has not submitted its Report, three years and a half after the closing of the hearing and the final argument. They find no justification for the delay in drafting the Report despite grant of repeated extensions, the latest to expire on 31 December 2007.
The AIMMM and the BMMCC consider that the public controversy between the Chairman of the Commission and its Counsel has given rise to many misgivings and apprehensions in the public mind that the Report is being doctored in order to protect some political personalities who, by their acts of omission and commission, had contributed to this great tragedy.
The AIMMM and BMMCC emphasize that if the Commission loses its credibility the Report will not be worth the paper it is printed on and, therefore, request the Commission to ensure that its conclusions fully take into account all the facts and circumstances that emerged during the hearing and to submit an objective report at the earliest possible.
The AIMMM appeals to all Muslim and secular organizations throughout the country to observe the 15 Anniversary of the Demolition on 6 December 2007 peacefully, in a suitable and dignified manner, to emphasise that only justice shall heal the wounds of December 1992 and that the community awaits, with faith and hope, the restoration of the Babri Masjid.’