2004: India Muslim Organisation Statements - Press Releases, The Milli Gazette

2004: Indian Muslim Statements
For Latest Indian Muslim Statements click here
Archive of Indian Muslim Statements click here

ALL INDIA MUSLIM MAJLIS-e-MUSHAWARAT

Judiciary Will Not Endorse Surrender as Bonafide Settlement; Moment of Truth for BJP’s Allies in NDA

New Delhi, 9 February, 2004: Shri Syed Shahabuddin, President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM), has issued the following Statement:

"Prime Minister’s declaration in Faizabad on the Ram Janamasthan Mandir Project in Ayodhya is but a reiteration of the known stand of his party and Government. On election eve, he has sought a fresh term in office, inter alia, to complete the ‘unfinished agenda’. But he forgets that Ayodhya Mandir was never formally a part of the NDA’s agenda. In fact, its non-inclusion in the Common Programme for Governance was a condition precedent for the formation of the NDA. So the Prime Minister’s statement is a signal for his allies that they have to drop their ambiguity and objection to the construction of the Mandir, if they wish to join his procession. The AIMMM, therefore, calls upon the leadership of the TDP, the Samata-JD(U), the TC and other allies, to clarify their position.

In his speech the PM has contemptuously spoken about the Judiciary and the judicial process. Only a soft State and a weak Government can be diffident about executing a judicial verdict. The title suit is proceeding fast, since the year 2000, when the longstanding demand of the Babari Masjid Movement for day-to-day hearing was accepted. But for the intervention of the excavation episode, the proceeding would have been drawing to a close. Now it is likely to take another 12-18 months, not 50 years as the RSS Chief says. The AIMMM does not think that a year or two is too long for a final determination of the legal rights of parties.
Given the BJP’s commitment to the construction of the proposed Mandir, not anywhere else but exactly on the Babari Masjid site, an out-of-court settlement, in the VHP’s and Government ‘s parlance, does not mean a compromise but surrender.

The AIMMM cautions the Muslim community of the behind-the-scene machinations at various levels to cajole, persuade or pressurize or even bribe some Muslim ‘notables’ to sign on the dotted line and surrender all the rights of the Muslim community over the Babari Masjid site. The AIMMM is, however, confident that this will not lead to any settlement; it will not be endorsed by all the parties and upheld by the Judiciary. Even a whisper of malafide will render it suspect in the eyes of the law.

The AIMMM is convinced that while the Executive is powerful, it is not more powerful than the Judiciary and no one is above the law. Indeed so far it is the Judiciary which has stood as the main obstacle in the path of the Executive, which under PM Vajpayee, has totally identified itself with the VHP’s position and lost its moral right to propose a solution."

Sd/- Syed Shahabuddin
ALL INDIA MUSLIM MAJLIS-e-MUSHAWARAT
N-44, Abul Fazal Enclave, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi - 110 025 Phone: 2632 6780 Fax: 2632 7346 Email: muslim@del3.vsnl.net.in q

_________________________________________________________