Babri demolition trial: Uma Bharti appears before special court, accuses Cong govt of framing her

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti on Thursday appeared before a special court here, accusing the then Congress-led government of framing her in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case because of political vendetta. She blamed the then government for falsely implicating her in the case without any evidence. Responding to special judge SK Yadav's query, Bharti said, "The then Congress government at the Centre got the present cases lodged against me along with others in order to fulfill its political intentions." "The said government got the investigation conducted in its own way on the basis of fabricated evidence and then also got the chargesheet filed in the court under political pressure," she added.

When the judge asked her why the trial was conducted against her, she replied that it was done due to political malice and conspiracy. "I will produce my defence in the court," she stressed finally, while replying to a series of questions posed by the special court. The special court is on the verge of completing trial proceedings in the 1992 Babri demolition case. There are 32 accused in the case, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani, the then UP chief minister Kalyan Singh and  BJP leader MM Joshi. Advani, Joshi and Singh are likely to record their statements via a video link.

The special court started recording from June 4, 2020 statements of all the accused under section 313 of the CrCPC, a stage in the trial that follows the examination of prosecution witnesses. Bharti was the nineteenth accused to depose on Thursday. She was exempted from daily appearance during trial proceedings in 2017, but as her appearance was necessary under section 313 of the CrPC, the special judge called her to court. She appeared along with her lawyers Vimal Kumar Srivastava, KK Mishra and Abhisekh Ranjan and answered the court's queries.

Calling herself a "Ram Bhakt", the former Union minister said that she took part in the temple campaign in Ayodhya with full faith and with a feeling of devotion towards Lord Ram. "I will always be proud that I took part in this campaign," Bharti said, adding that she was a second-time MP during the time. She said she was proud that her life has been devoted to "Ganga, tiranga (tricolour), gau (cow), gareeb (poor), naari (women) and Ram". As the BJP leader came out of the court, she said, "I consider the law of India as the Vedas, the court as a temple and the judge as a form of God. Whatever I said before him, I cannot comment on it, because the judgment on those things is yet to come." The 61-year-old saffron clad leader said the campaign for constructing the Ram temple has been a long one.

"I doubt that there has been any such campaign which lasted for five centuries, and in those five centuries it has only intensified," the BJP leader said. Last year's apex court's verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute, and acceptance of the judgement by the people was "overwhelming" and a "matter of pride for us" she added. The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished in December 1992 by ''kar sevaks'' who claimed that an ancient Ram temple had stood on the same site. The CBI court is conducting day-to-day hearings to complete the trial by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court. 

(Image credits: PTI)