Never forget injustice, says Owaisi on Babri demolition anniversary

HYDERABAD: Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday urged people to remember and teach the next generation to remember the injustice done with the demolition of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya.

On the 28th anniversary of demolition of the mosque, the Hyderabad MP took to Twitter to voice his views. “Remember & teach the next generation to remember: For 400+ years our Babri Masjid stood in Ayodhya. Our ancestors prayed in its hall, broke their fasts together in its courtyard & when they died, they were buried in the adjoining graveyard. Never forget this injustice,” Owaisi wrote

“On the night of December 22-23, 1949, our Babri Masjid was desecrated & illegally occupied for 42 years. On this date in 1992, our masjid was demolished before the whole world. The men responsible for this did not see even a day’s punishment. Never forget this injustice,”he added.

Meanwhile, the anniversary was observed as black day in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana on an appeal by various Muslim organisations. Shops and business establishments were closed in some localities.

The MIM had appealed to Muslims to observe a shutdown to register their democratic protest on the anniversary of demolition of Babri Masjid. The party, however, appealed that businesses should not be forced to close. Police had made tight security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident. Additional forces were deployed in Hyderabad, especially in the communally sensitive old city.

Police personnel were deployed at various places while patrolling was intensified. Personnel of the Rapid Action Force were deployed near the Charminar and the historic Mecca Masjid. Police arrested five activists of Darasgah Jihad-o-Shahadat (DJS), who tried to take out a rally in the old city to mark Babri Masjid demolition anniversary.

The United Muslim Forum, an umbrella group of various Muslim organisations and Islamic scholars, called for observing December 6 as black day. It said in a statement that it was not only a mosque which was demolished but the secular and democratic structure of the country was razed. It also appealed to Muslims to offer prayers on the occasion for restoration of Babri Masjid. It urged them to regularly offer ‘namaz’in mosques and educate the new generation about the history of Babri Masjid.