Advani, Joshi to Attend Ram Temple Bhoomi Pujan Via Video

Both Advani & Joshi had pleaded innocence in the babri masjid demolition case before a special CBI court in July.

File photo of VHP President Ashok Singhal with BJP leaders LK Advani, MM Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar in Raebareli in July 2005. Image used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

A week after they appeared in a Central Bureau of Investigation court over charges of having made speeches that provoked the razing of the Babri Masjid, veteran Bharatiya Party leaders Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manojar Joshi have said that they will attend the ground-breaking - popularly known as bhoomi-pujan - ceremony for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya slated on 5 August, 2020, over video conference, reported NDTV.

According to the report, the duo have been extended an invitation over the telephone and will also be sent physical invitation letters by General Secretary of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which was set up following a Supreme Court verdict on the Mandir-Masjid dispute in November 2019.

The Apex Court had said that the disputed 2.77 acres would be given to a government-trust, which would oversee construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The SC also said that alternate land will be provided for building a mosque in Ayodhya.

During the hearing on 24 July, Advani was asked around 100 questions for over four hours by a special CBI court in Lucknow. Appearing on video conference, Advani, one of the many accused of razing the Babri Masjid in December 1992, had denied all charges.

Murli Manojar Joshi , also an accused in the case, had told the CBI court that “the entire investigation was conducted under the political influence and he was charged on the basis of false and fabricated evidence.”

BJP leader and former union minister Uma Bharti, also an accused in the case who had recorded her statement before the court, had told NDTV that she is not afraid of the impending judgment.

“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,” NDTV quoted her as saying.

Around 50 VVIPs including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and others have been invited for the ground-breaking in Ayodhya.