AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi is among the most vocal critics of the BJP as well as of attempts by the Opposition parties to take on Narendra Modi. In an interview with The Indian Express, Owaisi talks about the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, what it means, and why he believes that the Opposition is equally responsible for the events of December 6, 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished.

Basically, it is a product of the movement which started in 1949 by surreptitiously placing the idol in the Masjid. Then Muslims were prohibited from using the Masjid. So, at every step, Muslims were ousted further and further, while the Sangh Parivar side’s positions were strengthened by courts and by governments. Subsequently, the demolition happened in 1992. Demolition was also part of the process. The Masjid was demolished despite assurances of various elected governments and the BJP-Sangh Parivar in the Supreme Court.

Subsequently, the 2019 judgment paved the way for the construction of the temple. While the Muslim side argued on the legal title, the court looked for evidence of faith, and said that the Hindu side had stronger evidence of faith. I have always said that if the judgment had been given on faith, then what would the judgment have been had the Masjid not been demolished? The only consolation for us was that the Court upheld the Muslim side’s argument that there was no archaeological evidence that the mosque was constructed on a demolished temple.

So, in short, this whole Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir movement is basically based on lies, because the Supreme Court said no mandir was demolished. And, Muslims were subjected to immense amounts of violence through the rath yatra of (L K) Advani and the other communal riots that happened. This inauguration or the consecration is Narendra Modi’s way of cementing his hold on the Hindu voters. And, one must also remember that Modi had previously equated the construction of the temple to the Indian freedom movement… as a way of saying that snatching a functioning masjid of Muslims was the same as defeating a foreign colonial government. It essentially implied that Indian Muslims were not Indian.

And, I am of the opinion that the judgment of the Supreme Court and this inauguration have emboldened other movements in Varanasi, Mathura and elsewhere to accuse functioning mosques of having been built on temples. Now they aim to recover these temples despite the 1992 law prohibiting the conversion of any religious place of worship. Unfortunately, the courts in their wisdom have allowed the litigation to proceed. So, my view is that the inauguration is a symbolic celebration of showing Muslims their place in today’s India.

What about Kamal Nath’s statement that it was Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress party who opened the locks (of the Babri Masjid in 1986, to take credit for the temple)? Why are they not talking about December 6? Basically, all these so-called secular parties are saying that had Modi not been there, they would have gone… that is what they are saying, isn’t it? My question is, what is their stand on what happened on December 6, 1992? Because it was the G B Pant (Congress) government that did not remove the idols. Had the Pant government removed the idols, what would have been the judgment? What would be the fate today? Had the Muslim side been heard in 1986, what would have been the situation today? Had the Masjid not been demolished, what would have been the fate today?

Every Opposition party. Uddhav Thackeray openly claimed that his party’s cadre demolished the Babri Masjid. They take pride in that. And then the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra says it was the proudest moment of his life when he was there. If it was the proudest moment, then Thackeray — both the Shiv Sena and the BJP people — should have gone to court during the criminal trial and said ‘Yes, we did it.’ The Modi government did not appeal against the court verdict that found no one criminally liable for the demolition. They did not appeal. It is only the Muslim side that filed an appeal.

I am yet to find a word to describe what they are doing. But the fact is that you were in power from G B Pant to the shilanyas done by Buta Singh (the Home Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government) in 1989, to the demolition which happened on December 6. Uddhav Thackeray had stood up in the Assembly as Chief Minister and said that they had demolished the Babri Masjid.

I cannot comment on seat-sharing because I am not privy to their decision-making process. But what kind of ideology is this that the Delhi Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) is saying that we will recite Hanuman Chalisa and Sunderkand Path in government schools? What is this ideology? Do you want to take on the BJP this way? (BJP leader) Arun Jaitley was right, when there is an original, why will people go for the clone? Do government schools represent a particular faith? Or do they celebrate all the faiths or celebrate even people who don’t believe in the Almighty God? I don’t know. There is a lot of deliberate confusion among them. It is like running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.

In BJP-ruled states, they have cancelled holidays on Milad un Nabi. Now, every BJP-ruled state is announcing holidays. So, basically development for all, appeasement for none, except the majority.