Ayodhya Verdict: BJP, RSS welcome SC decision, Asaduddin Owaisi raises doubt

Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court's decision on Ayodhya and expressed confidence that a verdict in the case will be reached at the earliest, while AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi expressed his  disappointment over the ruling. However, many Muslim parties said the verdict "is in our favour".

   Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy said after the judgment his appeal for 'fundamental right to pray at Lord Ram's birthplace will prevail paving way for construction of the temple'. Swamy had filed a separate petition in the Supreme Court stating that he had a fundamental right to offer hassle-free prayer at the birthplace of Lord Ram.

The Supreme Court declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgment that a mosque was not integral to Islam which had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute.

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"I have contested that I have a fundamental right under Article 25 to offer worship at the place where Lord Ram was born. The Supreme Court has now cleared the way for me to press for the fundamental right and that will prevail because now with this Ismail Faruqui judgment being upheld, The Sunni Waqf Board has no fundamental right and only ordinary right to appeal for the property, so my superior right will prevail and I hope before Diwali, Ram Mandir construction starts," ANI tweeted Swamy as saying.

Hailing the verdict, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said: “It is for country's benefit that the dispute associated with Sri Ramchandra Bhoomi gets resolved at the earliest. Majority of this nation wants a solution to this at the earliest. We appeal that this matter be resolved as soon as possible.” 

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Uma Bharti also welcomed the ruling. “It is an important day for me, and I welcome the Supreme Court decision on Ayodhya. I hope for a verdict soon,”n she said. 

Reacting to the verdict, RSS leader Indresh Kumar told Times Now that he was confident the judiciary will decide the Ayodhya issue in a speedy manner and alleged that the Congress was against its swift resolution as it wanted to keep "problems alive".

"Like in the case of Triple Talaq in which India and the world is congratulating the court and the judges for liberating 8.5 crore Muslim women from the clutches of injustice, they will solve this problem and create history in 2018 like they did with Triple Talaq in 2017," Kumar. 

However, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi felt that it would have been better if the issue was referred to the Constitutional bench. 

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“Also, I have an apprehension that the enemies of secularism in this country will use this judgment to realise their ideological objectives,” he said.
 

Khaliq Ahmad Khan, the nominee of Maulana Mahfuzur Rahman -- one of the litigants in the title suit, said: "During the hearing on the tittle suit in the Supreme court, the other side always quoted the 1994 judgment that mosque is not an integral part of Islam. Now the court has made it clear that the 1994 judgement was related to the land acquisition...and that it has no connection with the tittle suit. We have achieved our goal as the Supreme Court will hear only the tittle suit."

Iqbaal Ansari, another litigant from the Sunni Central Waqf Board, welcomed the verdict and said, "The Supreme Court has made it clear that the case will be heard on merits, on the base of the claims of land ownership... and not on religious beliefs as the high court has done."

He said they were "fighting the case for Babri land on the basis of revenue records". "Our claim is that there are no historical facts that any temple was demolished and Babri Masjid was built there," he added.  

Meanwhile, actor Aamir Khan, who launched the Thugs of Hindostan trailer in Mumbai on Thursday, said he won’t speak on anything controversial on the issue.

 “My film is releasing...if I say something, my film will get stopped. Let my film release then I will speak,” Aamir said.