Ram Janmabhoomi – Babri Masjid Dispute

I thought it would be perfect to post an earlier article I wrote on Ram-Janmabhoomi issue.

On the historical day of 9^th November 2019, our honourable Supreme Court put an end to the historical dispute of Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid by giving the disputed land of 2.77 acres in favour of Ram lalla and 5 acres of land to be given to the Sunni Waqf board elsewhere in Ayodhya. The decision was a balanced decision and was a much awaited one. This dispute which has been going over for over a hundred and fifty years has finally come to an end.

The date 9^th November is quite significant too, on the same day in 1989, the infamous Berlin Wall which separated east and west Germany was demolished. Thus, it is the hope of the court that love between the Hindu-Muslim communities prevail and they accept the judgement of the apex court without any law and order situation being arisen.

To understand better, it is imperative that we delve deeper into the history of how this dispute started and culminated into Godhra Riots of 2002. The issue was a grave issue and if left unresolved could have resulted in large scale riots across the nation and the gap between the Hindu and Muslim communities worsening which would have led to a humanitarian crisis and would have destroyed our country and turned it into Syria.

The legend has it that where the Babri Masjid was located, it was originally built on the remains of a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Rama, the slayer of the demon- king Ravana who is an important deity of Hindu religion. And so, the sentiments of ardent followers of Hindu religion were quite attached to the place. There are historical accounts that they still worshipped the pillars of the masjid and completed revolutions around the Masjid as part of their customs. The two communities first clashed in 1850’s after which the then British government fenced the site of dispute and divided the areas of worship for both the communities. That remained the situation for some 90 odd years. In 1949, when the nation of India was in its infamy the demand for complete possession of the disputed land rose in the Hindu community, they then forcibly took control of the land, placed Hindu idols inside the temple and drove out the Muslim community from the mosque, subsequent to this the police locked down the place and only the Hindu priests were allowed in to perform worshipping rituals. Both the parties of the dispute filed a petition for the title of the land in a local court staking their respective claims over the disputed piece of land.

By 1980’s, an organization of the Sangh Parivar, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had launched a new movement, for “reclaiming what was rightfully theirs” and to erect a temple on the disputed site. The campaign took a political colour with the newly formed BJP joining the bandwagon and thus becoming the political face of the campaign. On the ill-fated day of 6^th December 1992, BJP and VHS organized a rally which ended in the demolition of the Babri Masjid. As an aftermath of the demolition, over two thousand people lost their lives in the subsequent riots which broke out in major Indian cities of Delhi, Bhopal, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The supreme court in its verdict called this a calculated act of enticing a crowd and turning it into a mob.

But these were not the only lives lost to this cause, in 2002 massive riots broke out in the state of Gujarat over this very issue. On 27^th February 2002, 58 people were immolated because the perpetrators believed them to be carrying Hindu volunteers from Ayodhya. This resulted in massive riots in Gujarat. Muslim women were raped, men brutally murdered, mass mobs setting fires indiscriminately to anything Muslim. Gujarat burned, with over 2000 people dead, scores of people missing and thousands injured. This was certainly a humanitarian crisis, an attempt at ethnic cleansing and quite an abhorrent act. Some scholars even call it an act of premeditated violence.

 

After the 2002 massacre of Gujarat, in 2010 Allahabad high court gave its verdict on the title dispute with each contender of the civil suit getting equal portion of the disputed land. In the same year the petition was moved to the Honourable Supreme Court of India which after hearing the matter for a period of nearly 9 years gave its verdict on the historical day of 9^th November 2019. The decision was wholly based on the findings of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The organization was able to uncover some evidence suggesting that the Babri masjid had been built upon some structure which bears resemblance to an ancient Hindu temple and thus the suit went in favour of the Hindu community.

 

The apex court in its historical verdict also agreed that desecration was done by Hindus in 1949 when they clearly dispossessed Muslims from the mosque and obstructed offering of Namaz, there was no abandonment of the property by them. The court in exercising article 142 of the Indian Constitution agrees that a wrong that has been committed must be remedied. Thus, the central government has been charged with the creation of a trust for the construction of the temple and allocation of 5 acres of land to Sunni Waqf board.

Another question is why is this matter of such importance, this matter is of such grave importance because if left unresolved it might result in a world war. A popular Netflix Original series based on Vikram Chandra’s book of the same name ‘Sacred Games’ references to the demolition of Babri Masjid for an impending terrorist attack and ultimately the reason for start of World war and thus ending of the world. The introduction of the show begins with demolition of Babri Masjid with slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in the air. If such a grave issue is left unresolved it would certainly end the world. The UN already believes that the India- Pakistan conflict is grave enough to start a world war someday.

 

Now that the history of this dispute and how it culminated have been talked about in some detail, the question that arises is why there was such a gross delay in delivering this judgement. So many lives that have been lost for this cause wouldn’t have been lost, the divide between the two communities wouldn’t have widened. The blot of Godhra Riots from our history could have been erased completely. Terrorist organizations of Pakistan would have spared us from several terror attacks all in name of jihad and as a form of revenge for the demolition of Babri masjid.

The political parties for their vote bank stretched the critical matter at hand, which exacerbated the situation. The question at present is what will happen now? The state of Uttar Pradesh is on high alert, with mobile internet services temporarily suspended and deployment of army at critical points. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, section 144 of CRPC has been imposed in several districts across the nation. (position immediately after the judgement)

With this resolution of the Supreme Court, the government is proposing to turn Ayodhya into a smart city, with an airport already in pipelines. Construction of a grand temple, and most importantly the biggest statue in world of Lord Rama at a height of 251 meters. Other such proposals are also being made by the government and the Indian media is showing exclusive coverage of all this. So has this dispute come to an end? Or are we waiting with bated breaths to see what happens next. What is left to be seen is how this decision of the honourable Supreme Court really plays out. Will peace prevail or will there be any large-scale riots or another terrorist attack in name of jihad? Personally, I feel that even though the Indian Muslim community is dissatisfied with the verdict of the apex court, they will follow the verdict in good spirit and contribute to maintaining peace in the country.