"If I Am Sent To Gallows, I Will Be Blessed": Uma Bharti On Babri Case

BJP leader Uma Bharti today said "it does not matter" to her what the judgement in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case will be. Uma Bharti, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are among the BJP leaders accused of conspiracy in the case.

"I was called by the court for my statement and I have told the court what was true. It does not matter to me what the judgement will be. If I am sent to the gallows, I will be blessed. The place where I was born will be happy," Uma Bharti told NDTV. The BJP leader had appeared before a special CBI court in Lucknow earlier this month.

While veteran BJP leader LK Advani, 92, appeared before the court through video conference on Saturday, Murli Manohar Joshi recorded his statement before the court on Thursday through video conference.

Last year, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the 2.77 acre land claimed by both Hindus and Muslims would be handed over to a government-run trust for the building of a temple. The top court had also announced a five-acre plot at another site in Ayodhya for Muslims.

The CBI court, through daily hearings, has to complete the trial and deliver its verdict by August 31.

Uma Bharti also hit out at NCP chief Sharad Pawar who had taken a swipe at grand groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying "some people might think that corona will go away after a temple is built".

"There is no connection in the two things. An entire system, of doctors and health workers, are fighting Covid. And an unrelated set will build the temple... I see a different meaning in Mr Pawar's statements... Some people are concerned that all this is happening without too much fuss. I want to ask Pawar-ji to sing 'Shri Ram Jai Ram' when Modi-ji is in Ayodhya," Uma Bharti said.

"Give me 5,000 lives versus this one day (August 5). I will choose this one day. It is not important whether I am there or not. It is a non-issue for me. What is important is that Modi-ji will be there and will lay the foundation stone. It is important for Modi-ji to be there," she said.

The groundbreaking ceremony or "bhoomi poojan" for the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be held on August 5 inside the Ram Janmabhoomi complex. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of VVIPs are expected to attend the ceremony.