Asaduddin Owaisi: ‘Secular parties say had Modi not been there they’d have gone to Ayodhya… I ask, what is their stand on Dec 6?’

AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi is among the most vocal critics of the BJP as well as of attempts by the Opposition parties to take on Narendra Modi. In an interview with The Indian Express, Owaisi talks about the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, what it means, and why he believes that the Opposition is equally responsible for the events of December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished.

How do you see the BJP-RSS build-up to the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya just months before the Lok Sabha elections?

Basically, it is a product of the movement which started in 1949 by surreptitiously placing the idol in the Masjid. Then Muslims were prohibited from using the Masjid. So, at every step, Muslims were ousted further and further, while the Sangh Parivar side’s positions were strengthened by courts and by governments. Subsequently, the demolition happened in 1992. Demolition was also part of the process. The Masjid was demolished despite assurances of various elected governments and the BJP-Sangh Parivar in the Supreme Court.

Subsequently, the 2019 judgment paved the way for the construction of the temple. While the Muslim side argued on the legal title, the court looked for evidence of faith, and said that the Hindu side had stronger evidence of faith. I have always said that if the judgment had been given on faith, then what would the judgment have been had the Masjid not been demolished? The only consolation for us was that the Court upheld the Muslim side’s argument that there was no archaeological evidence that the mosque was constructed on a demolished temple.

So, in short, this whole Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir movement is basically based on lies, because the Supreme Court said no mandir