Ayodhya

[acharya]

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2003/jul/60004.htm?zcc=rl

'Hindus never tried to destroy Babri masjid'

By: Date: 2003-7-31







Lucknow: Witness Krishna Chandra Singh, a retired teacher stated before the High Court here that the Valmiki Ramayana was written by Maharishi Valmiki during the reign of the Lord Almighty but he was not aware whether King Rishab re-established Ayodhya after Lord Rama left for the Heavens.



The witness had earlier stated that the Ayodhya of Lord Rama's time had become desolated. But the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi was revered even after this desolation.



The witness was replying to questions shot at him by Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board. The counsel had asked the witness that when Ayodhya city had been destroyed and had become desolated after the Swargam of Ram (departure to the Heavens) how could people say now where the Janmabhoomi is when there is no clear mention about its location in Valmiki Ramayana.



Later the witness was cross-examined by Mushtaq Ahmad Siddiqui, counsel for Mohammad Hashim Ansari, a defendant in the Ayodhya title case.



When the counsel asked the witness whether or not it is true that the Hindus always tried to destroy and damage the Babri mosque out of religious hatred the witness replied in the negative.



The counsel then reminded him of the Shahjehanpur communal riots of 1934 after cow slaughter charges. But the witness refuted the counsel's suggestion that in retaliation to the Shahjehanpur incident the Hindus had tried to destroy the Babri Masjid in 1934 during the British rule.



The counsel had also pointed out that a large part of a dome of the Babri Masjid was destroyed during the incident and the British rulers had imposed collective fine on the Hindus for desecrating the religious place of Muslims.



The witness said that it was the Muslims who had attacked the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi temple and the British had imposed the collective fine on Hindus as they were anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim.



The witness said that even in 1934 the place was not a mosque nor was it regarded as mosque. No Muslim offered any prayers while the Hindus prayed from outside.



The witness stated that it was the Muslims of Faizabad and other districts who had attacked the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi temple and the counsel was wrongly trying to prove that even during British rule the place was regarded as a mosque. It was always a temple.