A day after the Babri-Ram Janmabhoomi case hearing, senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in a war of words.
Modi was all praises for a leader of the Sunni Waqf Board who said that senior advocate Kapil Sibal’s request for the deferral of the Ayodhya land dispute case till the 2019 general elections was wrong.
The Sunni Waqf Board must be congratulated for their brave stand on the matter and disassociating themselves from the statement of Kapil Sibal ji.Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Earlier on 5 December, arguing that the Babri-Ram Janmabhoomi case may have serious ramifications in deciding the future of India, Kapil Sibal asked the Supreme Court bench to hear the matter after the 2019 general elections.
Sibal’s suggestion, however, did not go down well with the Sunni Waqf Board, as Haji Mehboob of the board said they want to reach a solution at the earliest.
Yes, Kapil Sibal is our lawyer, but he is also related to a political party. His statement in the Supreme Court was wrong, we want a solution to the issue at the earliest.Haji Mehboob, member, Sunni Waqf Board
Kapil Sibal who was believed to be representing the Sunni Waqf Board in the case said that Modi should check his facts before delivering such statements, claiming that he doesn’t represent the Muslim body.
We believe in the Lord, we don’t believe in you Modi ji. You are not going to build that temple, it will be done when God wants it. Please address the concerns of India. Don’t divide the people of our country like this. You may win perhaps in your mind, but you will lose badly and India will lose if you only care about yourself and not India. The PM did not check the fact that I never represented the Sunni Waqf Board. And yet he thanked Sunni Waqf Board for a statement on the basis that I represented them.Kapil Sibal
Modi, BJP Leaders React to Deferment
Addressing a rally in Dhandhuka, Gujarat, Modi also questioned how the case was related to the Lok Sabha elections.
While Modi said that he doesn’t have any objection with Sibal representing the Muslim community, he questioned as to how a lawyer can ask for the case to be taken up after the next general elections.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called Sibal’s comments “irresponsible and unfair.”
As a lawyer, Kapil Sibal can argue any matter but he should not forget that he has been the law minister in the past. What does he mean when he says don’t hear the matter till 2019, as it will have an impact outside? It is unfair, and, in many ways, irresponsible.Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Law Minister
Referring to Mehboob’s reaction, BJP leader Sambit Patra also jumped onto the bandwagon against Sibal. He said:
Haji Mehboob of Sunni Waqf Board has said that Kapil Sibal’s statement yesterday (5 December) in the Supreme Court was his personal view, and that he was speaking as a politician.
Video Producer: Anmol Saini
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
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