New Delhi (NVI): India today rejected Pakistan’s criticism over the Babri Masjid verdict by a special CBI court, in which all 32 accused have been acquitted. It said that it may be difficult for a country like Pakistan to understand democratic ethos which has a “coercive apparatus” and where people and courts can be silenced.
“India is a mature democracy where the Government and citizens abide by the verdicts of the Court and show respect for the rule of law,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said during a weekly media briefing here.
“It may be difficult for a system with a coercive apparatus where people and the courts can be silenced at the will of the establishment, to understand such democratic ethos.,” he added.
The MEA has strongly rejected Islamabad’s criticism over the case and slammed the neighboring country government for trying to raise a controversy.
All 32 accused, including BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti, Murali Manohar Joshi and Kalyan Singh were acquitted in the case by a special CBI court in Lucknow yesterday.
In its judgment, the court said that CBI failed to prove the case and that the accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Special court judge SK Yadav said the demolition wasn’t premeditated and it happened at the spur of the moment with no involvement by any of the accused.
Yadav said that BJP leaders including LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, who were among the accused, tried to stop the mob.
The verdict came 28 years after the structure was razed down by a mob in Ayodhya town in Uttar Pradesh in 1992, sparking communal riots.
-ARK
