Mumbai: Slamming a section of the media which called it "anti-Mandir", Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) on Monday said it approached the Supreme Court intervening in the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid dispute with a plea that any decision in the matter of the disputed land not be based on any religious consideration.
"Reporting on this intervention application (IA), certain sections of the media have wrongly labeled CJP and our allies as "Anti-Mandir". This is not just offensive, it is aimed at provoking hatred and violence", CJP said in a statement jointly signed by its president Anil Dharker and secretary Teesta Setalvad.
"We are neither anti-mandir, nor anti-masjid. This is not an either-or situation. This is not a zero sum game. We genuinely believe that the secular fabric of the country can still be preserved, and the constitutional values upon which India was founded, can still be protected.
"We have intervened in the case with a plea that the decision in the matter of the disputed land not be based on any religious consideration", the statement said.
"Instead we would like the land to be used for public good in a manner that highlights India's commitment to secularism. In light of this, it is absolutely absurd for certain sections of the media to call us "anti-mandir".
"We believe that this baseless allegation was labelled against us as a deliberate act of mischief with the intention to spread lies about the intent of our organisation and to defame us.
"Such allegations also severely compromise the safety of key members and allies of CJP. We therefore urge authorities to investigate the malafide intentions of the concerned media houses", the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India which was supposed to begin the final hearing in the Ayodhya dispute case from today, deferred it to February 08, 2018.
Today's court decision was taken a day before 25th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid. Babri Masjid, the 17th century historic mosque, was demolished in broad daylight by Hindutva extremists who were led by senior RSS, VHP and BJP leaders, on December 06, 1992.
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