Senior Counsel Rajiv Dhawan, in a bizarre analogy, asserted that minorities receive preferential treatment and ought to receive it because they are weak. He said, “Parents give more attention to a weak child so as to enable him/her to be stronger. Same is the case with preferential treatment to minorities.” The statement appears to be eerily similar to Manmohan Singh’s remark that Muslims must have the first right to resources.
After asserting that Ram Janambhoomi belongs to Allah in the last hearing, Rajiv Dhawan on Friday again emphasized on Islamic scriptures while continuing on his submissions on the need to revisit the law laid down in 1994 in Islamil Farooqi by a five-judge bench. He said, “We have perused the Quran and the Hadith. A mosque is to be a mosque forever.” He added, “You can destroy a Mosque but you cannot rob it of its religious significance.”
The Farooqi judgment observed that a Mosque is not an essential part of Islam. It asserted that a Mosque “is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and namaz by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open and accordingly, its acquisition is not prohibited by the provisions in the Constitution.”
On March 14, the Supreme Court had dismissed all 32 intervention petitions filed by ’eminent’ citizens such as Teesta Setalvad and Shyam Benegal. The next date for the hearing has been fixed for April 6th.