Pakistan has no business in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir, but it tried to instigate Indian Muslims on the day the entire country came together in celebrations, top government sources in New Delhi told CNN-News18 on Monday, after Islamabad condemned the construction of the temple.
“We are not a banana republic like them — where judiciary is fixed and works on the directions of the ISI (Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence),” foreign ministry officials said, in a reference to Pakistan’s much-criticised judicial system. The officials underlined the long court proceedings that preceded the construction of the temple — and added that India’s top court had heard the matter. In fact, it was the Indian Supreme Court that granted the entire disputed land in Ayodhya to deity Ram Lalla, and directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to Muslims for a mosque in November 2019.
“This case has undergone many decades of judicial scrutiny. It has gone through all courts, including the apex court. No major judgment was by a single bench, and minority judges were also involved in the verdict,” the officials cited above said, highlighting the fair and decades-long judicial review of the high-profile case.
The officials added that Pakistan was trying to create trouble by provoking Indian Muslims who took part in celebrations in the Uttar Pradesh city of Ayodhya, where the deity’s pran pratishtha ceremony took place in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. The officials said India has given space to all religions. They also asked Pakistan to save Hindu places of worship, a reference to attacks on temples.
India’s sharp retort came after the Pakistan government condemned the “construction and consecration” of the Ram Temple on the “site of the demolished Babri Mosque”, which was torn down by a mob on December 6, 1992. It also criticised India’s judiciary for allowing the temple at the site.
“A temple built on the site of a demolished mosque will remain a blot on the face of India’s democracy for the times to come…The rising tide of ‘Hindutva’ ideology in India poses a serious threat to religious harmony and regional peace…The international community should take cognisance of the growing Islamophobia, hate speech and hate crimes in India,” Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement, drawing a sharp and swift rebuttal from India.
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