BABRI MASJID

Babri Masjid was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, atop a hill known as Ramkot (Rama’s Fort), built
in 1528 by a general Mir Baqi in accordance with the wishes of Babur. It has been a focus of
dispute among the Muslims and Hindus since the 18th century, as Hindus claim that it was built
upon the ruins of a temple that is believed to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity, Rama. The
mosque was attacked and demolished by Hindus in 1992, leading to a wave of violence across
the country.

HISTORY
The date of construction of the mosque is uncertain. The inscriptions on the Babri Masjid
premises found, in the 20th century, state that the mosque was built at some point between
932-935 AH (1528-1530). There is no proof that there existed a temple, specifically a Hindu
temple at the site of the mosque. There was no mention of a mosque or the destruction of a
temple in the Baburnama (Chronicles of Babur). However many other books have mentioned
the existence of either a mosque or a temple of some sort, but none of them were very specific
in their writing.

Apart from the Hindus, Jains and Buddhists have also claimed the site. According to Jain
Samata Vahini, the mosque was built over a 6th century Jain temple. Similarly, Udit Raj;s
Buddha Education Foundation has claimed the mosque was built over a Buddhist shrine.

DISPUTES
In 1853 a group of armed Hindus occupied the site and claimed ownership. Periodic violence
erupted in the next 2 years. The civil administration had to step in, refusing permission to build a
temple or to us it as a place of worship. A boundary wall was constructed after a Hindu-Muslim
clash in 1855, dividing the premises into two courtyards. The Muslims offered their prayers in
the inner courtyard, while the Hindus offered their prayers on a raised platform known as Ram
Chabutara, in the outer courtyard. In 1883 the Hindus launched an effort to construct a temple
on the platform. After Muslim protests, the Deputy Commisioner prohibitedany temple
construction. This was followed by a series of court cases until november 1886.

On 27th March, 1934, a Hindu-Muslim riot occurred in Ayodhya, triggered by cow slaughter in
the nearby Shahjahanpur village. One of the domes and the walls around the mosque were
damaged which were repaired by the British Indian government.

In 1936, the United Provinces government enacted UP Muslim Waqf Act for the better
administration of waqf properties in the state, and the Babri Masjid was registered with the UP
Sunni Central Board of Waqfs. The Shias disputed this, claiming that the site belonged to them
on the basis that Mir Baqi was a Shia. The Commissioner of Waqfs initiated an inquiry into the
dispute, which concluded that the site did in fact belong to the Sunnis as Babur was a Sunni.
In December 1949, the Hindus organised a non-stop 9 day recitation of the Ramacharitamanas
just outside the mosque. At the end of the event a group of 50-60 people entered the mosque
and placed idols of Rama and Sita. On the morning of 23 December, the event organisers
asked Hindu devotees to come to the mosque for a darshan. As thousands of Hindus started
visiting the place, the government declared the mosque a disputed area and locked its gates.

DEMOLITION
In 1984, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) initiated a campaign to gather public support for the
access to the Babri Masjid and other structures that had been allegedly built over Hindu shrines.
To raise awareness, VHP planned nationwide rath yatras (chariot processions). These efforts
saw a pause after the assasination of Indira Gandhi, but revived again in 1985. In 1986, a local
lawyer, Umesh Chandra Pandey, appealed to a court to remove the restrictions on Hindu
worship in the Babri Masjid Premises. Subsequently, the Rajiv Gandhi government ordered the
locks on the masjid gates be removed.

Communal tension in the region worsened when the VHP received permission to perform a
shilanyas (stone-laying ceremony) at the disputed site before the national election in november
1989. A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, L K Advani, started a rath yatra, embarking
on a 10,000 km journey starting from the south and heading towards Ayodhya. On 6th
December 1992, BJP, VHP, and RSS leaders gathered at the site to offer prayers and perform a
symbolic kar seva. Later that day, a teenage Kar Sevak (volunteer) was vaulted on the dome
and that signalled the breaking of the outer cordon, and soon a large number of kar sevaks
demolished the mosque.

AFTERMATH
Communal riots broke out between Hindus and Muslims across the country immediately after
the demolition, which resulted in 2000 deaths, most of which were Muslim. Six weeks of riots
further erupted in Bombay, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 900 people.

Jihadist outfits have cited the demolition of Babri Mashid as justification for attacks directed
against India. Gangster Dawood Ibrahim, wanted in India for his alleged ties to the 1993
Bombay bombings which killed 257 people, is believed to have been infuriated by the incident.
The site has become a magnet for pilgrims. Aftershocks of the disaster spread towards
Bangladesh and Pakistan, where Hindu temples were attacked.

In 2003, by order of an Indian court, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was asked to
conduct a more in depth study and an excavation to ascertain the type of structure that was
beneath the rubble. The summary of the ASI report incicated what appears to be the presence
of a 10th century shrine under the mosque. Now, while it still has not been absolutely proved
that this was actually a Hindu temple, this excavation has been used countless times in court
cases for control of the site, and on 9th november, 2019, the Supreme Court of India ordered he
land to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to
give alternate 5 acre land to Sunni Waqf Board to build the mosque.