The Agra police on Wednesday, April 12, arrested four members of All India Hindu Mahasabha, including its spokesperson Sanjay Singh, for getting an FIR registered against four Muslim men on false cow slaughtering charges on the eve of Ram Navami on March 30.

Only last week, the police arrested Imran Qureshi alias Thakur and Shanu alias Illi, both Muslims, who were also allegedly involved in framing the four Muslim men. “The four persons – Sanjay Singh alias Sanjay Jat, Jitendra Kushwaha, Brijesh Bhadouria and Saurabh Sharma – have been arrested on the basis of evidence we have collected against them,” Agra Assistant Commissioner of Police RK Singh said.

Following these four arrests, police are now looking for the remaining three accused, all Muslims. According to investigations so far, it was the five accused Muslim men had enmity with the four named in the false cow slaughter FIR.

On March 29, the eve of Ram Navami (March 30), Jitendra Kumar, a Hindu Mahasabha leader, filed a complaint alleging he had received information that Rizwan, alias Kalta that three others, including Nakeem, an Agra Municipal Corporation employee, and his brothers Vijju, alias Chottu and Shanu were slaughtering a cow in a thicket near Gautam Nagar and were planning to sell the meat. Kumar told the police that he rushed to the spot with his friends, but by then the accused had fled.

It was on the basis of this Kumar’s false complaint, an FIR was lodged against Rizwan and three others at the Etmaddulah police station under the UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act. At the spot, the police allegedly found cow meat, however, according to police, they found that the four men named in the FIR were not present at the spot. The final conclusion that the complaint was false was arrived at n on the basis of human intelligence, surveillance, CCTV footage and other evidence added the police.

On April 6, police arrested Qureshi and Illi, both residents of Agra for questioning. During the process, Qureshi and Illi, say the police, admitted to the conspiracy of framing the four Muslim men as Nakeem had complained to the police about them in the past, following which they were arrested.

Meanwhile, predictably, the All India Hindu Mahasabha state unit president Rishi Trivedi has said their leaders were being falsely implicated. “They (Mahasabha leaders) had informed police about cow slaughtering and reached the spot before police. Now, police have booked them in the case. It appears to be part of a conspiracy. Sanjay and others booked in the case were reaching the state capital, Lucknow, on Thursday to hold a press conference on this issue, but the police arrested them today,” said Trivedi stated The Indian Express.

Related:

Hindu Mahasabha Members Arrested for Allegedly Slaughtering Cow to Incite Communal Violence in Agra During Ram Navami Parade

The post In false cow slaughter cases, four Hindu Mahasabha members held: UP Police appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: PTI

In a tweet message Swamy said,

This was followed up with a second tweet:

 
Responding to the tweet messages the Congress party has demanded that he be prosecuted for contempt of court.

Last year the BJP leader had intervened in the case over the disputed plot pending before the Supreme Court since 2011 asking for an early disposal of the case. While hearing him on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had suggested that it would be better if the parties in the dispute were to arrive at an out-of-court settlement in this “sensitive” and “sentimental matter”.

The apex court’s bench headed by chief justice JS Khehar even offered the services of a court-appointed principal mediator if the contending parties so desired.  Swamy is to report back to the court after exploring the matter with the disputants by March 31.

Even as he expressed his willingness for talks as suggested by the apex court, Swamy has made it clear that there was no question of any compromise on the Ram Mandir being built at the spot.
 
 

The post Subramanian Swamy’s ultimatum to Muslims on Ayodhya: Give land for Ram Mandir or else a new law is imminent appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Supreme Court today suggested the mediation route to resolving the long-pending “sensitive” and “sentimental” Ayodhya dispute.

“These are issues of religion and sentiments. These are issues where all the parties can sit together and arrive at a consensual decision to end the dispute. All of you could sit together and hold a cordial meeting,” said the bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar while hearing a petition filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

The apex court has set March 31 as the date by which the parties to the dispute must respond whether the idea was acceptable to them.

While the BJP has reportedly welcomed the suggestion, the Sunni Waqf board, a party in the dispute has said it was in favour of a judicial pronouncement from the apex court where the matter has been pending for decades.

“The parties should resolve the issue amicably by talking to each other. We welcome this step and I believe they should have talks outside the court,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said in New Delhi, PTI reported.

“We are ready for a settlement, let a temple and a mosque be built,” Swamy told India Today news channel  while insisting that the disputed site was the birthplace of Lord Rama, a temple must be built there. “A mosque can be built anywhere”, he added. Lawyer Zafaryab Jeelani struck a different note saying, “27 years of talks have been useless.  

Meanwhile VHP leader Pravin Togadia has demanded that the BJP-led NDA government pass a law in Parliament for the building of the Ram Temple at the disputed site while Samajwadi Party leader from UP, Azam Khan has welcomed the apex court’s suggestion.

“If all stakeholders on both sides can arrive at a mutually acceptable consensus based solution, it will go a long way in ensuring lasting peace, goodwill, mutual respect and brotherhood. Otherwise, Supreme Court should adjudicate the issue on merits,” Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

Justice Khehar even offered to mediate on the controversial issue if the parties to the dispute were agreeable. All parties should consider appointing mediators to sit across the table and settle the issue. If need be a principal mediator could be appointed by the apex court, he added.

In 2010, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had given its verdict on the long-standing Ayodhya Ramjanmabhumi-Babri Masjid issue for a three-way division of the disputed area, between the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the party for ‘Ram Lalla’. The aggrieved parties — Sunni Waqf Board and the All India Hindu Mahasabha — however appealed in the Supreme Court which ordered a stay on the High Court ruling.

Swamy had approached the apex court last year urging a speedy verdict on the long-pending Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. In blatant violation of the Supreme Court orders and the assurances given to it, the Babri Mosque was demolised on December 6, 1992 by 'kar sevaks' who belonged to various organisations committed to Hindutva ideology.

The post BJP welcomes SC suggestion of out-of-court settlement of pending “sentimental” Ayodhya dispute; Waqf board prefers judicial verdict appeared first on SabrangIndia.