Maulana Arshad Madani, the president of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, has said he had declared decades ago that Babri Masjid was not built on the remains of any temple and his words had been proved correct eventually.

“We fought a long court battle for Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and in fact we won it. The court didn’t say that it was built over any temple, it only handed over the property to the other party on the basis of the religious beliefs of a large number of people,” Madani said while addressing members of the Jamiat, a socio-religious organisation, at a training programme at Lucknow’s Sunni Degree College on Thursday.

There were representatives from 37 districts of central Uttar Pradesh at the programme.

Observers believe that Madani’s remarks in the run-up to the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 could be intended to send a message to Muslims across India not to get agitated over the latest developments.

“We had told the court that any place of worship is prohibited in Islam if it is built over the remains of the shrine of any other religion. Fortunately, it was proved that Babri was not built after breaking any temple. Here lies our victory. Further, we are tolerant people and known for our extraordinary participation in the freedom struggle. Even today, we are among those true nationalists who are engrossed in building a better India,” said the chief of the Jamiat, the largest Muslim organisation in the country.

The Supreme Court had given its verdict in favour of the Hindu side in 2019.

Madani also reacted to the ongoing inquiries against every madrasa in Uttar Pradesh, saying: “The madrasas which accept funds from the government are under vigil (of the government). No such probe can be fruitful against the madrasas that don’t accept even a penny from the government.”

“Some people say that private madrasas get foreign funding. Are the donors (of other countries) fools that they would fund madrasas in India? Moreover, is there any dearth of donors in India?” Madani asked.

Bidhuri ‘regrets’ House abuse

New Delhi: BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri is learnt to have expressed regret for his communal remarks against BSP member Danish Ali in Parliament.

Bidhuri’s expression of regret was made at a meeting of the Lok Sabha Privileges Committee on Thursday, paving the way for a possible early closure of the matter. Both Bidhuri and Ali had been asked to appear before the committee on Thursday but they were called in separately. Sources said Bidhuri pointed out that defence minister Rajnath Singh had expressed regret.

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT