Graphic Novel | Unfolding 75 Years of Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir in 10 Key Moments
Ram Mandir's history is marred with blood, violence, loss and politics. The Quint maps the biggest Hindutva movement
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Over 30 years later, at a site where once Babri Masjid stood for 400 years, now stands the newly-built Ram temple, currently under construction in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. On 22 January, the much-awaited consecration will be held, even while several saints and priests have refused to attend the ceremony.
The history that the Ram temple is one marred with blood, violence, loss and politics. The Quint maps the political history of what led to the biggest mass mobilisation of Hindutva movement and the journey till Ram temple.
As per the Liberhan Commission (2009), it was placed by Abhiram Das (variously spelt as Abhay Ram Das), a sadhu of the Nirmohi Akhara.
When Ram Lalla's idol was placed inside the mosque.
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The mosque had been locked by the Jawaharlal Nehru-government until in 1986, when the then Prime Minister, at a tumultuous political juncture after the Shah Bano judgement, took the injudicious decision of allowing to open the locks.
With this, he opened the possibility of laying claims to a pre-existing temple by the Hindu right-wing.
The locks at Babri were opened.
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Then in August 1990, VP Singh's government announced the decision to have 27% job reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The agitation in the aftermath of this step gave rise to the Mandal vs Kamandal politics. 'Kamandal' (an oblong water pot used by sadhus), is a term that was often used to describe BJP's Hindutva politics.
VP Singh's decision to provide reservation created a political uproar.
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By this time, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was itching to take an action for the construction of the temple and announced 30 October as a 'non-negotiable' date.
Meanwhile, BJP's LK Advani launched the infamous Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya from 25 September to 30 October.
LK Advani launched his Rath Yatra in September 1990.
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Slogans like 'Remember, remember, the 6th of December' are famous for the relevance they hold in Ayodhya's history.
A massive crowd of Karsewaks were present in Ayodhya to listen to Advani, Joshi.
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On 6 December 1992, thousands of Kar sevaks amid chants of 'Mandir wahi banega' (mosque will be built there) and 'Badi Khushi Ki Baat Hain, Police Hamare Saath Hain' (it's a matter of happiness that the police are with us), they razed Babri mosque to the ground.
The Babri Masjid was destroyed in December 1992.
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Shortly after, riots broke out in different parts of the country, especially in the North. Nearly 2,000 people were killed, including mostly Muslims, as per reports.
Kalyan Singh, under whose state government the tragedy happened was dismissed the same day.
On 30 June 2009, the Liberhan Commission observed: "These leaders were the executioners wielding the sword handed to them by the ideologues. The hands that tore down the disputed structure and shredded the very fabric of society belonged to the common man."
A year later came the Allahabad High Court order which divided the land in three ways among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and 'Ram Lalla' or infant Ram represented by the Hindu Maha Sabha.
However, it was stayed by the apex court in 2011.
Allahabad's High Court ruling in 2010.
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The Bench had then stated that the status quo at the disputed site would remain as directed by the 1994 Constitution Bench and the order passed in March 2002.
Eight years later, things changed with the controversial Supreme Court ruling by a bench headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
The court noted that there was no evidence of a temple-like structure being underneath the mosque, however:
Supreme Court gives the disputed land to the Hindu parties in 2019.
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On 5 August 2020, amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who assisted Advani in the Rath Yatra — laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Ram temple.
Nearly 28 years after the mosque was destroyed in September 2020, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Lucknow acquitted all the 32 accused in the Babri Masjid Demolition case.
PM Modi laid the foundation stone in 2020.
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Cut to January 2024, the 'Pran Pratishtha' event at Ram Mandir is being celebrated like a national holiday in the country, further blurring the lines of state and religion.
This, despite the fact that four of the top leaders of Sanatan Hindu Dharma or Shankaracharyas are opposing the ceremony stating that it's against Hindu scriptures to inaugurate an incomplete temple.
The new Ram Temple is still under construction in Ayodhya.
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