6th of December: Remembering Demolition of Babri Mosque

By Sajjad Shaukat

Indian Constitution which claims India to be a secular state was torn into pieces when on December 6, 1992, a large crowd of Hindu Karsevaks (Volunteers) entirely demolished the 16th-century Babri Masjid (Mosque) in Ayodhya, Utter Pradesh in a preplanned attempt to reclaim the land known as RAM Janmabhoomi–birthplace of the god.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid sparked Muslim outrage around the country, provoking several months of inter-communal rioting between Hindu and Muslim communities, causing the death of at least 2,000 people, majority of whom were Muslims. The governments of several neighboring countries, including those of the Islamic World condemned the Indian government for failing to stop the destruction of the historical mosque.

In a 2005 book, India’s former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Maloy Krishna Dhar wrote that Babri mosque demolition was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP/Sangh Parivar, VHP, Shiv Sena, the Bajrang Dal and the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Raow. Dhar elaborated, “He had drawn up the blueprint of the Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) assault at Ayodhya in December 1992.”

However, on December 6, 1992, the RSS and its affiliates organized a rally involving 150,000 VHP and BJP Karsevaks at the site of the mosque. The ceremonies included speeches by BJP leaders such as L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti. During the first few hours of the rally, the crowd began raising militant slogans. A police cordon had been placed around the mosque in preparation for attack. Nevertheless, around noon, a young man managed to slip past the cordon and climb the mosque itself, brandishing a saffron flag. This was seen as a signal by the mob, who then stormed the structure. The police cordon, vastly outnumbered, fled. The mob set upon the building with axes, hammers, and grappling hooks, and within a few hours, the entire mosque was leveled. Hindu fanatics also destroyed numerous other mosques within the town.

A 2009 report of the inquiry commission, authored by retired High Court Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, found 68 people to be responsible for the destruction of the Babri Masjid, mostly leaders from the BJP. But no action was taken against them.

By showing prejudice in favour of Hindus, on September 30, 2010, the Allahabad High Court ruled that the 2,400 square feet (220 m2) disputed plot of land, on which the Babri Masjid stood would be divided into three parts. The site at which the idol of Rama had been placed was granted to Hindus in general, the Sunni Wakf Board got one third of the plot, and the Hindu sect Nirmohi Akhara got the remaining third. The excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India were heavily used as evidence by the court to support its so-called finding that the original structure at the site was a massive Hindu religious building.

Anti-Muslim biased approach could be judged from the verdict of the Supreme Court of India. While announcing its judgment on the disputed land regarding the Babri mosque, the court ruled in support of the Hindus, and said that a temple will be constructed on the Ayodhya land. The court noted that the demolition of 460-year-old Babri Mosque in 1992 was a violation of law and ordered that five-acre alternative land in a suitable, prominent place be provided to Muslims for a mosque. The land for the mosque will be acquired by the government.

Muslims in India protested against the Supreme Court’s decision which was likely to have a significant impact on fraught relations between India’s Hindus and Muslims, who constitute 14 percent of its 1.3 billion people.

Muslim group’s lawyer, Zafaryab Jilani said: “This is not justice.” India’s Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi stated: “This court must accept faith and accept belief of worshippers.”

The court’s verdict was a huge victory for Hindu nationalists under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had promised to build the temple in 2014 elections, which brought him to power.

Regrettably, in the pretext of lack of evidence and ignoring the facts, an Indian court on September 30, 2020 acquitted all the Hindu nationalist leaders, including former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Advani, who was then BJP chief, was among the miscreants, accused of criminal conspiracy and inciting a mob to tear down the mosque.

Jai Bhagwan Goyal, a defendant who was acquitted, said: “We had done nothing wrong. The whole of India is happy. Lord Ram’s temple is coming up in Ayodhya city.”

Regarding the faulty verdict, Zafaryab Jilani, a counsel for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board stated that the court had ignored all the evidence.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez, in a statement, had strongly condemned shameful acquittal of those responsible for demolishing the historic Babri Masjid.

Notably, in the Indian general elections of 2019, BJP and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won huge majority in the Lok Sabha, with the BJP sweeping up 303 seats on its own—21 seats more than it won in the 2014 elections. Hindu majority was mobilized on ‘hate Muslim’ slogans and ‘anti-Pakistan’ jargons, while the incessant and unjust Indian propaganda against the Muslims and Pakistan was beyond anybody’s cognition, which still keeps going on. Indian extremist Premier Modi, the leader of the fanatic ruling party BJP-led alliance accelerated the implementation of the ideology of Hindutva ((Hindu Nationalism) based on anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmir moves.

In the aftermath of the elections, news reports have highlighted different cases in which lower castes Hindus like Dalits and particularly Muslims were violently targeted by the extremists Hindus. Especially, various incidents of arrests and violent assaults on the Muslims by the Hindus have been recorded.

It is mentionable that on August 5, 2019, Indian extremist government revoked articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to the disputed territory of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Indian government bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to be ruled by the federal government.

Indian PM Modi’s anti-Muslim chauvinism took a dangerous turn on August 5, 2020 when he laid the foundation stone for the Hindu Ram temple at bhoomi pujan ceremony at the site of the demolished Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

Now, another Babri Mosque episode is in the making. In this connection, on the eve of filing nomination papers for Lok Sabha 2019 from Varanasi (Kashi), Uttar Pardesh (UP), Premier Minister Modi had announced to materialize the construction of “Kashi Vishwanath temple or Vishwanath dham” at a cost INR 600 crores. Kashi is the sacred place of Hindus on the embankments of River Ganga, attributed to Shiv god generally represented by “Shiv Ling”. The project aims at clearing an area of around 45,000 square metres—create dedicated 50 feet wide pathways. Being the constituency of Modi, the area and the project has been given extraordinary attention by the UP government under Hindu extremist Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

While about 300 homes have been demolished and 600 families have been displaced in the process, Swami Avimukteshwaran who is the head of the Sri Vidya Math—Varanasi and one of the disciples of Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati stated that “They have destroyed 15 or 20 temples and numerous idols. They had been there since ancient times. It is an attack on our faith”. Varanasi residents also claim that “This corridor is being built by crushing the soul of Kashi”.

Besides, there is another issue of grave importance, fomenting in the area, as there is centuries old Muslim mosque titled the ‘Gyanvapi mosque’ which is adjacent to Modi’s Kashi Vishwanath temple project. Reportedly, some Hindu extremist activists had attempted to burry an idol of bull (Nandi) to claim (on the lines of Babri mosque issue) that the mosque site was a Hindu site, however, they were caught red handed and the issue was hushed up.

Although apparently, India claims to be the largest democracy, acting upon the principles of liberalism and secularism—theoretically, Indian Constitution safeguards the rights of religious minorities. But, in practice, ideology of Hindutva prevails over all political, economic and social fields of the country. Hindu majority led by the BJP has shown complete disregard to the Constitution.

Nonetheless, apart from other frenzy events, the demolition of the Babri Masjid will remain a major scar on Indian so-called secularism, as on the very day (6th of December); Indian fundamentalist leaders broke all the records of Hindutva terror by deliberately hurting the feelings of the Muslims. The atrocities and tyranny let loose on that day in Ayodhya continues unabated against the Muslims in one form or the other, under the Modi regime.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com