Hindus attacked, trespassed, razed Babri, now seek Ayodhya land: Muslim parties to SC

The Babri mosque was attacked in 1934 by Hindus who then trespassed in 1949 and demolished it in 1992 and are now saying that their rights over the disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid land must be protected, Muslim parties said in the Supreme Court on Monday.

A 5-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which commenced hearing arguments from the Muslim side on 17th day of the crucial proceedings, was told by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan that the historical assertions and facts cannot be relied upon completely in deciding the lawsuits.

"In 1934, you (Hindus) break the masjid and in 1949, you commit trespass and finally, in 1992, you demolish the mosque...and after all the destructions, you say that the Britishers collaborated against Hindus and now say that our right must be protected," said Dhavan, appearing for Sunni Waqf Board and one of the original litigants, M Siddiq.

The bench however told him: "Please do not go into all this. Your arguments should be relevant to issues."
History cuts both ways, Hindus and Muslims cannot say that their version of history be believed to decide, he said, adding, "I cannot dig up evidence...difficulties are there (in appreciating historical facts)."
To this, the bench said: "Tulsidas was a contemporary and 'Kavya' may also contain facts."