Ram temple opening: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi says ’had the situation today been same if...’

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said on Saturday that Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was "very systematically snatched from the Muslims. He also hit out at other political parties, saying that they are fighting to "consolidate" majority votes. Owaisi's statement came ahead of inauguration of the "historic" Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, Asaduddin Owaisi questioned three “important incidents” in history that, he said, led to the situation the way it is today.

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"...the Muslims had offered namaz in that area (Babri Masjid) for 500 years. When Congress's GB Pant was the chief minister (of Uttar Pradesh), idols were placed inside the masjid at one night...but the idols were not removed from there... there was a collector named Nair. He shut down the Masjid and started doing puja there, and in 1950s, Nair became the Jan Sangh's first member of the Parliament," Owaisi said.

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He added that late in 1986, locks were opened without listening to the Muslims. "On 6 December 1992, the Babri Masjid was demolished...sacrificed by the BJP and the Sang parivar," the AIMIM chief said.

Owaisi said the Ram Mandir did not exist when Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) was formed. He also said Mahatma Gandhi never mentioned anything about Ram Mandir. " Very systematically, Babri Masjid has been taken away from Indian Muslims...," he said.

He asked, "Had we seen things how they are today if GB Pant had removed those idols back then? or if the locks had not been opened in 1986 and if the Masjid had not been demolished on 6 December". He said, “These are the questions were are asking and no one is responding to them.”

Hitting out at the other Opposition parties and the BJP, Owaisi said, "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also in the INDIA alliance, says we will organise Sunderkand Paath and Hanuman Chalisa every Tuesday at government schools...Do government schools have any religion?"

"Nobody speaks anything about this because they are all busy targeting the votes of the majority community...," Owaisi said.

Owaisi's recent remarks asking Muslim youths to stay alert against attempts to "snatch away" mosques had stoked a controversy with the BJP. The BJP had accused him of "communalising" the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, PTI reported.

The 'Pran Praishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla will take place on January 22. The idol of the Lord, sculpted by Arun Yogiraj, was placed inside the Sanctum Santorum of the temple. Covered with a veil, the first photo of the idol was revealed during the placement ceremony in the Sanctum Sanctorum on Thursday.