A Brief History Of Shri Ram Temple Dispute - Part 2

The Fight for restoring the Hindu Heritage Site of Ayodhya:

Efforts for Shri Ram Temple before Independence –

There were many proofs available of the fact that the Mosque was built over a temple-like book Sahifa-I-chihil Nasaih Bahadur said that masjid was built by Aurangzeb after demolishing a temple with idols which were namely called as Sita’s Kitchen and Hanuman’s Abode. In 1611 an English merchant, William Finch recorded the Ram’s Castle and houses being visited by pilgrims. Note that many scriptures are stating that the mosque was built by Aurangzeb whereas the remaining ones state that it was built by Babur. But all the scriptures stated that the mosque was built after demolishing the Temple with idols.

People who were in favor of Temple were there in every century.  Hence, there was a Rajput Noble in the 18th Century popularly known as Sawai Jai Singh acquired the land in this birthplace of Lord Shri Ram, and the ownership of land was vested in the deity. He placed the idols on that acquired land in the region outside the mosque and Hindus started worshipping Lord Shri Ram.

In 1853 India witnessed first religious violence over a nearby mosque Hanuman Garhi (Hanuman’s Abode) in which several Hindus attacked the Babri Masjid. It was the day when Hindus started showing unity and awareness about their culture and heritage. In 1859 the colonial British administration put a fence around the site, denominating separate areas of worship Hindus and Muslims. That is how it stood for 90 years.

Since the attack of 1853, Several Hindu groups made occasional demands that they should have possession of the site and they should be allowed to build the Temple on the site, all of which were denied by the colonial British government in 1946.

Post-Independence Efforts which led To Historic Decision –

Several years later after the independence, mosques were built in the Faizabad district, in which the pilgrim city of Ayodhya falls. Ayodhya itself had a small Muslim population, though there were substantial numbers of Muslims 7 km away at District Headquarters – Faizabad. Since 1949, by the order of the Indian Government, Muslims were not permitted to be closer than 200 yards away to the site. The main gate remained locked, though Hindu pilgrims were allowed to enter through a side door.

Many events took place which showed the seriousness and unity of the Hindu community towards the issues of Ram Temple. Major Hindu groups and organizations started filing cases against the Babri Masjid demanding the ownership of land to build the Glorious structure of Ram Temple on the Birth Place of Lord Shri Ram. In 1950, Gopal Singh Visharad filed a title suit with the Allahabad High Court seeking an injunction to offer worship at the disputed site. A similar suit was filed shortly after the first suit by Paramhans Das of Ayodhya which he withdrew later. In 1959, The Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu religious institution, filed a third title suit seeking direction to hand over the charge of the disputed site, claiming to be its custodian. A fourth suit was filed in 1961 by the Sunni Wakf Board against the occupation of Mosque forcefully and placing idols in it forcefully.

The Agitation against the Babri Masjid built after demolishing a Temple was started in 1964 when an Indian Right-wing Hindu Organization was formed and named as Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The raising of the issue led to an excavation of the disputed site in 1970 and then later again in 1992 and 2003. The excavation of the disputed site revealed the proofs of the fact that the Mughal structure was built on the ruins of a temple and a large Hindu structure existed on the site before the existence of the Babri Masjid. The results of this excavation are given in detail in the later sections of this blog.  When the district magistrate Nair refused to carry out the orders against the temple was eventually dismissed. But he became the local hero and emerged as a politician of Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Due to several issues Bharatiya Jana Sangh, was split and the remnants of Bharatiya Jana Sangh formed Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in 1980 which became the political face of the campaign.

In 1984 the movement to erect a dedicated Temple of infant Lord Shri Rama (Ramlala) at his birthplace was started by Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Several Hindu Groups joined this campaign and formed a committee to spearhead the construction of a glorious Ram Temple at the Ram Janam Bhoomi site. In 1986, a local district judge ordered the gates of the Mosque to be opened after 37 years since 1949, and allowed Hindus to worship inside the disputed structure. The gates were opened in less than an hour after the court decision. This gave a major boost to the campaign started by Hindu Groups. On the other side, a Babri Mosque action committee was formed as Muslims protested the move to allow Hindu prayers at the site.

The clamor for building the Ram Temple was growing. In February 1989, VHP proclaimed that a Shila or a foundation stone will be established for the construction of a temple near the area. In November, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad laid the foundation of the temple on land adjacent to the disputed structure in the presence of Home Minister Shri Boota Singh and then Chief Minister Shri ND Tiwari. There were sporadic clashes in the country such as Bhagalpur in Bihar. In 1990 Shri VP Singh became the Prime Minister of Indian with the support of BJP which had won 58 seats in Lok Sabha Elections with a massive improvement from its last tally of 2 seats.

In September 1990, the then BJP President Lal Krishna Advani began a Rath Yatra (pilgrim procession) to Ayodhya to generate support for the movement. Advani later stated in his memoirs, “if Muslims are entitled to an Islamic atmosphere in Mecca, and if Christians are entitled to a Christian atmosphere in the Vatican, why is it wrong for the Hindus to expect a Hindu atmosphere in Ayodhya?”  The yatra resulted in communal riots in many cities in its wake, prompting the government of Bihar to arrest Advani on 23rd October. Despite this, a large number of Kar Sevaks activists reached Ayodhya and tried to attack the Mosque. They were stopped by the Uttar Pradesh police and the paramilitary forces, resulting in a pitched battle in which several Kar Sevaks were killed. Accusing the Central government led by V.P. Singh to be weak, the BJP withdrew its support, necessitating fresh elections. Shri Chandrashekhar became the Prime Minister.

 On 30th October, many peoples who gathered in Ayodhya as participants of the Rath Yatra were gunned down by the police on the orders of the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. The bodies of these gunned down participants of the Rath Yatra were thrown in the river Saryu.

In the elections held after the fall of V.P Singh’s coalition government, the BJP won a majority in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly increased its share of seats in the Lok Sabha. But unfortunately, Congress came to power at Center after elections in 1991, while BJP became the major opposition party in the center and came to power in many states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Kalyan Singh became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. State Government acquired 2.77-acre land in the area and gave it on lease to Ram Janam Bhoomi Nyas Trust. The Allahabad High Court stopped any permanent construction activity in the area. Kalyan Singh publicly supported the movement while Central Government took no action to curb the increasing tensions. Despite the High Court Judgment, the disputed area was leveled.


NOTE: References to all the parts of this article are placed together at the end of part 5.

<< Previous Part                                  1   2   3   4   5                                       Next Part>>