Demolition of Babri Mosque and aftermath

by Zulafqar Ahmed

                                

“It may be pronounce that they will not construct a temple at the disputed site because this issue had have assisted BJP to polarise people for electoral purpose”

Demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 by mob is considered as black day for Indian democracy. After Babri Mosque demolition period no election has gone in India that has passed without reference of construction of Ram Mandir at the disputed site. Leaders of the BJP party have been rhetorically polarising the people of Hindu Muslim community for the purpose of vote bank politics. After 2010 Allahabad high court’s verdict in which the court declared that disputed land would be equally portioned among the three parties, Sunni Wakf Board, The Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

This decision to portion out the land to three different groups witnessed the gradual and substantial decline of Muslim faith in Indian Judiciary. After the 2012 UP Assembly election post-poll survey it has been found that less than one third of Hindus & Muslims demanded only a temple and Mosque at the disputed site respectively. But in 2016 survey there has been a sizeable increase in the percentage of Hindus (49%) who said that only temple should be built at the disputed site. Whereas only (28%) Muslims had said that only mosque should be constructed at the disputed site. In the earlier surveys conducted by LSDS in which opinion of Muslim community regarding construction of only mosque was almost equal to Hindu community.

This declining percentage of Muslim community after 2016 does not mean that their faith on Indian secularism has changed & they  have become more secular but it clearly shows that they have lost faith on whole political setup of country in general and judiciary in particular. BJP minister Uma Bharti said that “she is ready to be hanged for building Ram Temple at the precise spot where the Babri Mosque stood”. Not only Uma Bharthi but Recently RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that “only temple will be built in the disputed site” he further added “it is not a populist declaration but a matter of our faith. It will not be changed.” His remarks are seen as a rebuke to a spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who has appointed himself as a mediator between Hindu-Muslim groups. BJP ministers not stopped here they even have said that Supreme Court can’t pronounce judgement on Ram Temple because this is matter of our faith. Ostensibly, this is sheer contempt of court. It was same BJP which has celebrated recent judgments of Supreme Court on Triple Divorce, Section 377 and many more. These statements undoubtedly witness that the RSS & the BJP government are committed to the construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site. It may be argued that it is now quite easy for them ‘to construct a temple’ at the said site keeping in mind that both at the centre as well as in the state the BJP is in power.

Although, BJP has been misusing the sentiments of the people & exploiting their faith before every election. BJP has also been continuously using appeasement politics for electoral purpose. It may be pronounce that they will not construct a temple at the disputed site because this issue had have assisted BJP to polarise people for electoral purpose. Not only leaders of the Right wing but even leaders of so called secular parties like AAP have made controversial statements. Recently education minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia said that on the disputed site a university should be built instead of Temple or Mosque. If this happen then it would be a sheer injustice to Muslim community because Apex Court of India had not allowed charged mob to demolish Babri Mosque. Supreme Court of India has said several times that Babri Mosque demolition is a ‘National crime’ that has shaken social fabric of the society. In this milieu, it would be a challenging job for Supreme Court to give a balanced decision for both Hindu and Muslim community to keep the social fabric of the communities unharmed as well as to restore lost faith of Muslim community on judicial system of the country.

 Zulafqar Ahmed Tantray, doctorate fellow at the department of political science Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh,

Will the Supreme Court of India See Justice Done to the Babri Mosque?

By: Kayhan Int’l 

Today is the anniversary of a sad day in contemporary history when 26 years ago the civilized world was shocked at the desecration and destruction of one of the symbolic houses of the One and Only Creator of the universe by frenzied mobs misled into belief by Godless elements that the historic Babri Mosque in the north Indian city of Ayodhya in Faizabad District of Uttar Pradesh State was allegedly built on a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Ram.

The destruction of the large three-domed mosque, which was an architectural wonder, led to riots throughout India resulting in the death of over two thousand Muslims. 

No true Hindu, believing in ‘ahimsa’ and the lessons of peaceful coexistence learned from the legend of Ram, will ever endorse violence against Muslims or demolition of any mosque, and these are the principles by which the majority of Indians abide but have sadly been relegated to the sidelines by anarchist elements fanning flames of hatred nationwide. 

December 6 is thus marked as "Black Day” by India’s estimated 250-million strong Muslim population whose demand for rebuilding of the Babri Mosque has unfortunately been given communal colour by politicians playing the temple card and pressuring the Supreme Court to allow construction of a temple at the site. 

It is rather unfortunate that in this age of scientific progress and unravelling of realities, including those pertaining to religious belief, there are people in our world who instead of proper cognition of the fundamental concept of monotheism on the basis of a rational reading of history and evaluation of historical facts, cling to myths mainly because of the propaganda dished out by pseudo spiritualists and politicians with an eye on the unsuspecting people’s pockets and, of course, on votes to legitimize their dubious rule over them.

If in 1992 the central government of India had prevented mobs from desecrating the sanctity of the magnificent structure built on a vacant plot of land in 1528 by Mir Baqi Tashqandi, a general of Mohammad Zaheer od-Din Babar – Founder of the mighty Moghal Empire of the northern subcontinent and eastern Afghanistan – the late 19th century mischief of the British colonialists in speculating ruins of a temple underneath the mosque, would never have become the major divisive and destabilization issue that the Babri Masjid is today.

It is a matter of deep regret that the Mosque-Temple controversy has become the centerpiece of agenda of communal parties currently contesting elections in several states, thereby dividing the nation along communal lines rather than strengthening the "unity in diversity” for which democratic India stands unique with its respect for all religions, schools of thought, cultures, languages and ethnicities. 

The interesting point is that despite organized efforts to doctor archaeological evidence, no trace of any temple material has been found by excavation teams below the ruins of the Babri Mosque.

It is also worth noting that neither any ancient Sanskrit text nor any medieval work including ‘Ram Charit Manas’ composed by the famous Hindu poet, Tulsidas, in 1575, within 50 years of the construction of Babri Mosque, have mentioned the demolition of a temple to make way for a mosque.

Moreover, from what we learn from the ancient scholar Valmiki’s lore ‘Ramayana’, Ram was a civilized person and thus an obedient servant of the One and Only God, which means his soul is definitely grieved today at the mockery of his values by his self-styled followers.

So the onus is on the government of India, or more properly its Apex Court to take bold decisions to rectify the wrong of 1992 by closing once and for all this vexing issue, and allowing reconstruction of the Babri Mosque on its original site.