Hashim Ansari, the main petitioner in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit is no more but his battle to get the Masjid built is being fought by his son Iqbal Ansari. “Babri Masjid will be rebuilt and handling the Muslims won’t be easy for the government,” says Ansari in an exclusive chat with InUth.
Ansari, however, claims that he is deeply hurt by the comments made by some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the recent times over the Mandir-Masjid issue. Firebrand BJP leader Uma Bharati’s comment allegedly targeted Muslims by saying “agar maa ko doodh piya hai to Ram Mandir ka nirmaan rok kar dikayein (if you have the guts, try and stop us from building the temple)’.
Speaking to InUth, Ansari said that comments like these irk Muslims. “The matter is sub-judice, but despite that, leaders like Uma Bharti, Sakshi Maharaj and Vinay Katiyar make inappropriate comments. If they will provoke us, then we can also give statements like Muslims will rebuild the Babri Masjid. We can also come onto the streets for Babri Masjid,” he says.
He also adds that “If we (Muslims) come onto the streets, then the government won’t be able to handle us. What I want to say is that the BJP should stop provoking us, we want to go by the court verdict, hence we never make any inappropriate comment on this matter,” he said.
Lashing out at the saffron brigade, Ansari said: “BJP has been raking people’s sentiments due to UP assembly elections. BJP thinks that unless it pursues the politics of Bhagwaan Ram it won’t succeed.”
He also said that the Election Commission should take stern action against these leaders and that mere complaints won’t help. “The EC should take strict action against such leaders. Only FIRs are lodged against them and then no action is taken. Even you know the fate of such FIRs,” he said.
Expressing disappointment over the SP-Congress alliance, Ansari state that the Samajwadi Party didn’t need the support of Congress. “Akhilesh could have won the elections alone. He hasn’t done any bad work in the last five years, a lot of people support him,” said Ansari. “After the alliance with Congress, many Muslims have moved to support the Bahujan Samaj Party,” he added.
Ansari who has been raised in Ayodhya says that he has no problem with people in Ayodhya but the source of tension for him are the outsiders brought by the BJP. “Whenever BJP wants to spread hatred and spark communal tension in Ayodhya, they take support from outsiders by bringing them here. In Ayodhya, Hindus and Muslims have no issues, they live with each other peacefully. You can see our unity in festivals and marriages,” said Ansari.
“Our unity is such that there’s not even a civil case registered against each other. We only face trouble when outsiders come here to spoil the communal harmony,” he added.
