Shah Mehmood Qureshi questions timing of Babri Mosque verdict

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday questioned the timing of the verdict announced by the Indian Supreme Court on the ownership of a centuries-old religious site in Ayodhya.

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“Sikhs across the globe are happy over the opening of Kartarpur corridor, while the Indian SC has opened a new debate through its verdict”, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said while talking to ARY News.

The foreign minister added, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was sowing the seeds of hatred with its politics of hatred.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Foreign Office will issue an official statement on the matter after reading details of the verdict.

“The Indian Supreme Court after a long time announced the verdict today. Why did the Indian court announce the verdict today?” he asked.

The FM said Pakistan respects minorities living in the country and they are free to go anywhere and worship according to their believes.

Opening of the Kartarpur corridor shows Islamabad’s resolve that all religions are respected in Pakistan, he continued.

Earlier in the day, India’s Supreme Court had ruled the Hindus will get Ayodhya land and an alternate piece of land should be allotted to Muslims to balance the claims of the both communities, according to media reports.

The unanimous verdict on the long-running Ayodhya land dispute announced by a five-member bench of the Indian apex court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. The bench also comprised of Justices S. A. Bobde, D. Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer.

The bench in its decision observed that there was enough material to prove that the Babri Masjid was not constructed on a vacant land. There was a structure there and it was not an Islamic structure, bench said.

The Supreme Court bench declared demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 as a violation of law. It also said that Sunni Waqf Board has not been able to establish its claim of adverse possession as evidence shows that Hindus were not barred from entering the premises before 1857.