One of the 351 prosecution witnesses in the Babri Masjid demolition case, Haji Mehboob, is distraught after a special CBI court acquitted senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and 31 others of all charges, including criminal conspiracy.
“What justice? There is no meaning in justice in this country,” said Mr. Mehboob, who was also one of the litigants in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suit that was decided by the Supreme Court last year.
“Iss mulk mein hume insaaf milna toh hume bahut mushkil nazar araha hai (I find it very difficult to believe that one can get justice in this country),” he told The Hindu when asked if he had any hope of justice in higher courts.
A resident of Tedhi Bazaar, not too far from the site where the Babri Masjid stood till December 6, 1992, Mr. Mehboob said the special CBI court acquitted the accused in the same way the Supreme Court last year allowed the construction of a Ram Temple on the disputed site even though it was acknowledged that it had been a mosque and idols were placed inside it surreptitiously in 1949.
“The way Kalyan Singh had said during his time that he was proud of being involved [in the demolition] and many such people admitted to doing it and saying that they are proud and don’t care even if they are punished. What can I say when the court has acquitted them?,” said Mr. Mehboob.
Mr. Kalyan Singh was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh when the mosque was demolished. During trial in the special CBI court, he was the only accused who submitted documentary evidence in his defence.
