The government of Karnataka has sanctioned the prosecution of eight PFI (Popular Front of India) activists over a banner that expressed anguish over denial of rights in the Babri Masjid issue, reported The File.
The posters were put up outside mosques in Mangaluru and reportedly displayed a picture of the Babri Masjid along with a caption – “Lest we forget”, “6 December 1992 the day on which Babri Masjid was demolished. “9 November 2019 Justice is denied”, “Memory is the first defence”.
The poster referred to the Supreme Court verdict in November 2019 that had ruled that the land, where Babri Masjid once stood would be handed over to a government-run trust for the construction of a Ram temple.
However, a complaint was lodged against the posters. The case was investigated and a charge sheet was filed. The Karnataka home ministry, today, based on the complaint filed by the Director-General of Police, pre-ordered the sanction to undertake legal action against the eight accused – Naushad, Mohammed Iqbal, Razzaq, Safiullah, Rafeeq, Mohammed Haneef, Mustafa and Abdul Rafiq.
The complainant alleged that the posters were aimed at causing enmity between religious groups. The accused have been charged under various sections of the IPC and the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act.
More than two decades after the Babri Masjid was destroyed by marauding Hindu mobs, its land was awarded to Hindus by the Supreme Court for the construction of Ram temple in November last year, despite acknowledging that the destruction of the mosque was against the rule of law.
A special CBI court also cleared all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case, including former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani, former Union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh.
The Ram temple’s construction began in August, two weeks after PM Modi laid its foundation stone in Ayodhya on August 5.
Related
Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.
