Despite the imposition of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) — that prohibits an assembly of more than four people in an area — in Ayodhya since Saturday, November 24, lakhs of Hindutva workers made their way to attend the “Dharm Sabha” organised by the the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Sunday, November 25.
For this religious meet, activists from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the VHP poured in from across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar. Besides attacking the Opposition, communally charged statements were made by leaders throughout the duration of the “Dharm Sabha”.
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Provocative statements were made about the Supreme Court as well, by Hindu religious leaders. “That the Supreme Court should decide on the birthplace of our Ramji, is not acceptable to the youth of India,” egged one leader on the Dharm Sabha stage, adding, “I want to ask the Supreme Court, when Babar broke the Ram Janmabhoomi what court gave him the permission to do so?”
The Supreme Court’s directive of postponing the Ram Janmabhoomi hearing date to January 2019 was openly disrespected by the speech-makers as well as their audience. One sadhu said in his address, “When terrorists can have a court at night, why can not Lord Ram be granted a hearing at the night? The court says they will decide after January. The day the public starts losing faith in such courts, the importance of the judiciary will also be eliminated from the nation.”
In direct contempt of the Indian judiciary and Supreme Court, he further said, “Lord Ram is greater than the judiciary.”
Talking about the Constitution, he added, “The judiciary is governed by a constitution created by men, but the Constitution of God is universal. We believe in the Constitution of God. Rules of India’s Constitution don’t have any bearing on God’s Constitution.”
On one hand, the sadhus at the forum disregarded the judiciary and the Constitution. On the other, communally charged chants and provocative statements were made by the Hindu activists and workers from different parties.
Talking with NewsCentral24×7, people who attended the meeting, aired strong disapproval for the Supreme Court. A VHP worker said, “In the name Lord Ram, we brought Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power at the Centre, and Yogi ji here (Uttar Pradesh).” He also said, “We did not wait for the Supreme Court to tell us then, and we haven’t asked for it to intervene now. We demolished the (Babri) Mosque and we did so with the help of the public. There is no greater court than the public’s court. We have waited too long for the Supreme Court to decide.”
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