Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid case: Never represented Sunni Waqf Board in court, says Kapil Sibal

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New Delhi: Senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday clarified he never represented the Sunni Waqf Board in the ongoing long-standing Ayodhya matter in the Supreme Court.

This clarification of his has come in the wake of the board distancing itself from his yesterday's statement in the court wherein he demanded the next hearing to be held only in July 2019 after the completion of the next Lok Sabha polls, citing political ramifications

Sibal also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making statements against him and his stand on the matter in a rally in Gujarat, ahead of the assembly polls in the state.

"The PM did not check the fact that actually I never represented the Sunni Waqf Board in the Supreme Court. And yet he thanked Sunni Waqf Board for a statement on the basis that I represented them. I request the prime minister to be a little more careful," Sibal told ANI.

Sibal is the lawyer for Iqbal Ansari, a co-petitioner in the lawsuit over the title to the disputed Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

"Will a discussion on my going to the court and representing someone solves serious problems in the country? If yes, then the prime minister should say so. Issuing statements won't help India in any way. It'll just take the nation towards controversies. 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, not India," he added.

He further said, "We believe in the Lord, we don't believe in you Modi ji. You (PM Modi) are not going to build that temple; it will be done when God wants it. The court will decide."

PM Modi had earlier congratulated the Sunni Waqf Board for dissociating themselves from Sibal's statement in connection with the matter.

The Supreme Court deferred the hearing in the case for February 8, 2018, following which, a controversy erupted wherein the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked the Congress Party and Sibal of adopting a double standard on the issue and politicising it.

The Babri Masjid was built by Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya in 1528.

The Hindus, however, claim that a Ram temple that originally stood there was demolished to construct the mosque.