Babri mosque demolition was assault on Constitution: Aruna Roy

Noted social activist Aruna Roy today termed the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition as an assault on reason and rationality of the Constitution.

"One of my worst days as the citizen of India was when the Masjid was brought down. It was an assault on reason, assault on the rationality of the Constitution," Roy said at the launch of the book, 'Ham Sab Ayodhya', which captures the life and times of that era.

The event was organised here by Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT).

At the same event, former Chief Justice of India J S Verma, who heard the Ayodhya case, termed it as one of its own kind.

"It was not a usual case, it was a case of its own kind. A case which connected with every citizen of India who believed in the Constitution," Verma said.

Both Roy and Verma compared the intolerance in the society as seen in sedition charges being slapped at cartoonists and young girls put behind bars for a Facebook post to the sorry state which the country faced during the 1992 Babri demolition and its aftermath.

"The situation today is very much like it was then. Dissent is not liked today as well. And if we do that, we are charged with sedition. Cartoonists are put behind bars, two young girls are arrested for an FB post. All this has put India's secularism and the ability to tolerate different beliefs and opinions at stake," Roy said.

The Magsaysay award winner later called upon the society to pledge its belief in Indian democracy and secularism.

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