Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Saturday said the judgement in the Babri Masjid demolition case, in which she is an accused, does not matter, NDTV reported. Senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi have also been accused of criminal conspiracy in the case.

“I was called by the court for my statement and I have told the court what was true,” she told the television channel. “It does not matter to me what the judgement will be. If I am sent to the gallows, I will be blessed. The place where I was born will be happy.”

The former Union minister also criticised Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar for taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the “bhoomi poojan” or the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya city on August 5. “Some people think that coronavirus will go away after [a] temple is constructed,” Pawar had said last week.

“There is no connection in the two things,” Bharti said in response to Pawar’s remark. “An entire system, of doctors and health workers, are fighting coronavirus. And an unrelated set will build the temple...I see a different meaning in Pawar’s statements...Some people are concerned that all this is happening without too much fuss. I want to ask Pawar-ji to sing ‘Shri Ram Jai Ram’ when Modi-ji is in Ayodhya.”

Babri Masjid demolition

The Babri Masjid, located in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on land that was the birthplace of deity Ram.

On July 2, Bharti had appeared before a special Central Bureau of Investigation court for recording her statement. Meanwhile, Advani recorded his statement through video-conference before special CBI judge SK Yadav on Friday and denied his role in the incident. The veteran BJP leader was asked over 100 questions, according to his lawyer KK Mishra. Joshi, the former BJP president, recorded his statement on Thursday.

Three other high-profile accused – Giriraj Kishore, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal and Vishnu Hari Dalmia – died during trial and the proceedings against them were abated.

The special CBI court is conducting day-to-day hearing in the case to complete its trial by August 31 as directed by the Supreme Court.