Contents:

IntroductionHistoryDemolitionAccusedVerdictConclusion

Introduction

AYODHYA

Ayodhya is situated in the city of Uttar Pradesh in north India.

It is a historical city that has been mentioned in the many ages old Vedas and by travellers to the country from ancient times.

Ayodhya is known as the birth place of Sri Rama. Ayodhya been the birthplace of Sri Rama, hence

many millions of people believe it as a place of historical and religious significance.

It has been extensively recorded throughout the history of Islam that wherever Islamic invaders went they attempted to convert and supress the local religion and population.

Many temples were destroyed and converted into Mosques.

Ayodhya Dispute

The Ayodhya dispute is a political, historical and religious debate in India, it is on a plot of land in the city of Ayodhya, situated in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh.

Ayodhya is one of seven most holy places for Hindus in India.

The main issue of the site is, it is traditionally regarded as the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama, the location of Babri Mosque at the site, and if a previous Hindu temple was demolished or modified to create a mosque.

The Babri Mosque was destroyed by Hindu activists during a political rally which turned into a riot on December 6, 1992.

Later a land case was lodged in the Allahabad High Court, the verdict of which was pronounced on September 30, 2010.

Introduction

The Mughal Emperor Babur came from Kabul to invade India in 1525, he defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the battle of Panipat and also the Rajput King of Chittorgarh, Rana Sangram Singh.

One of his generals, Mir Baki Khan visited Ayodhya in 1528 and in fact after destroying a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site, built the “Janmasthan” i.e. "Birthplace" Mosque.

The General Mir Baki Khan named it the “Babri Mosque”.

The Babri Mosque was one of the largest mosques in Uttar Pradesh, a state in north India with around 31 million Muslims.

Why it all started?

History

1528: The Babri Masjid built by Mir Baqi, a nobleman of Babur’s court

1855: The Hanumangarhi episode. Hindu-Muslim conflict as a consequence of an attempt by Muslims under the leadership of Shah Gulam Hussain to oust the Hindu Bairagis from the Hanumangarhi temple on the grounds that the temple had supplanted the mosque. The Muslims were deafeated. The dispute was not over the Babri Masjid.

30 Nov 1857: Maulvi Muhammad Asghar of the Masjid submits a petition to the magistrate complaining that the Bairagis have built a chabutra close to mosque ( similar complaints are made in 1860, 1877, 1883 and 1884)

.

1859: The British Government erects a fence to seprate the places of worship of the Hindus and the Muslims. The Hindus are to enter from the East gate and the Muslims from the North

1949:22-23rd December: In the night ,the idol of Rama was installed by the Hindus inside

the mosque. The Government proclaims the premises as disputed area and locks the gates.

1951:3rd March: The Civil Judge orders that the idols should remain. The High Court

confirms this order on 26 April 1955

1984:7 and 8 April: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) sponsored Dharma Sansad in a session at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi gives  call to liberate the Ramjanamabhumi.To create national awareness in support of the liberation of the Bhumi the VHP organizes a rath-yatra of Sri Rama Janaki Virajman on a motorized chariot from Bihar 25 Sept 1984 to reach Ayodhya on 6 October 1984. But Indira Gandhi’s assassination later that month leads to a suspension of the yatra.

March: The Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) is formed. This is followed by a countrywide Muslim ‘mourning’.1986

1990October: A rath-yatra, from Somnath to Ayodhya led by the BJP leaders start.The BJP withdraws support to the Janata Dal Governmet.In the Shilanyas procession and the kar seva on 30th October performed amidst tight security, several people are killed and injured in the police action.

October 1992: Commissioner SP Gaur Faizabad was of the perception that the call for Karseva given

by VHP was for construction of temple on 2.77 acres acquired land and at the disputed site. He sought appropriate directions for security of the disputed

structure in view of these changed circumstances. A reminder was sent by him on the 14th October.

An assurance was given by the state to the Supreme Court that no construction would be carried out in

the acquired land.Bal Thackeray took a decision on 25th October 1992 to participate in the Karseva. It was announced that this was not going to be a mere symbolic Karseva,

but the actually Karseva at the spot by construction of temple.

On 29th October, the negotiations collapsed.

September 1990

In September 1990, BJP leader L. K. Advani

started Rath Yatra, a tour of the country to educate the masses about the Ayodhya

struggle.

December 1992

On 6 December 1992, the BJP and other supporting organizations

organized a religious ceremony to symbolically start the building of a temple at the sacred site. A crowd

of about 150,000 people had assembled to witness the

ceremonies, including speeches by BJP leaders L. K. Advani and Murli

Manohar Joshi

December 1992The day of Symbolic Puja.

More than 2 lakh people reached Ayodhya.

This was the day when the BABRI MASJID was demolished.

The Karsevaks’s assault on the disputed structure started around 12:15 p.m.

The Karsevaks’s succeeded in pulling down the first dome at 1:55 p.m.

Communal Riots had commenced at Ayodhya at about 3.30 p.m. Riots were carried out by another group of Karsevaks that i.e. one group of Karsevaks who were carrying out the demolition.

Houses of the Muslims were put on fire.

The construction of a temporary make-shift temple commenced at about 7.30pm through Karseva.

Accused PeopleThe Liberhan Commission of Inquiry that probed the 1992 razing of the Babri mosque found 68 people culpable for leading the country to the brink of communal discord.

The names (in the order given by commission):

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP:

served as the eleventh Prime Minister of India. After a brief stint as Prime Minister in 1996. There are at least 22 references to Mr Vajpayee in the over 1029-page Liberhan Commission report.

Balasaheb Thackeray, Shiv Sena:

is the founder and Chief of the Shiv Sena, a Hindu extremist, Marathi ethnocentric and populist party based in Indian state of Maharashtra.

Kalyan Singh, BJP: (C.M.)

He has served two times as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.He first became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in June 1991. His government was dismissed by Central Government on 6th December 1992 after the demolition of Babri Masjid. He again served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh between September 1997 and November 1999.

L.K. Advani, BJP:

L.K.Advani began his political career when he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (R.S.S.) in 1942. In 1947, he became Secretary, RSS, Karachi.Advani became a member of the Bhartiya Jana Sangh. Between 1980 and 86, Advani was General Secretary and leader of newly formed Bhartiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha.

Uma Bharti, VHP:

Pramod Mahajan, BJP:

She was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from 8th December 2003 to 23rd Aug 2004.Firstly, in November 2004, she was suspended from the BJP.

He was one of the most powerful second generation leaders of the BJP. Mahajan was a member of the RSS since childhood. He became Secretary of BJP from 1983 to 1986.

Some more accused people:Braham Dutt Divedi, BJP, Revenue Minister,

Uttar Pradesh.Kalraj Mishra, BJP.Lalji Tandon, BJP.Mahant Paramhans Ram Chander Dass, VHP.Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP.Satish Pradhan, Shiv Sena.R.K. Gupta, BJP, Finance Minister, Uttar

Pradesh.R.N. Shrivastava, District Magistrate,

Faizabad.

Verdict on Ayodhya Dispute The Allahabad High Court on Thursday Sep 30, 2010 gave its verdict on the Babri Masjid case in Ayodhya.The 3-bench ruled by a majority verdict that the disputed land in be divided equally into three parts among:•Hindus •Muslims and•Nirmohi Akhara.

Justice S .U. Khan:The disputed structure was constructed as mosque by or under orders of Babar.It is not proved by direct evidence that premises in dispute including constructed portion belonged to Babar or the person who constructed the mosque or under whose orders it was constructed. No temple was demolished for constructing the mosque.

Justice Sudhir Agarwal: It is declared that the area covered by the central dome of the three domed structure, i.e., the disputed structure being the deity of Bhagwan Ram Janamsthan and place of birth of Lord Rama as per faith and belief of the Hindus, belong to plaintiffs (Suit-5) and shall not be obstructed or interfered in any manner by the defendants.

CONCLUSION

Ayodhya issue cannot be confined to the geographical limits of ayodhya. The issue has cast a shadow and has had consequences on the national life of india as a whole.6 December 1992- The day which is regarded as “The Black Day” among the Muslim community, The day which further deteriorated the relationship between Hindus and Muslims in India, The day which led to communal fights and tension across India.The issue started to emotionally exploit the emotions of common man for electorial gains.

The issue was started to emotionally exploit the emotions of common man for electoral gains.

Political parties made the intelligent use of selected fragments for history, interconnected with certain events and putforth a new issue “DEMOLITION OF BABRI MASJID”.

“Maarenge mar jaayenge par mandir wahi banayenge “ broke the country into pieces. Indians were divided by this one slogan.

BLAME GAME

1. What if Rajiv Gandhi had’nt unlocked the gates of Babri in 1986?

2.Are the extremists to be blamed??? The Liberhan Report on the Demolition in brief brings out the criminal culpability of the Sangh Parivar in clear terms.

3.P.V. Narsimha Rao ignored the daily IB briefings.Was he that naïve for he went away to africa during critical time.

4.Security measures and other arrangements weren’t enough to control the karsevaks.

For there are no answers.Liberhan commission report failed to punish the culprits and no-one was arrested.

Events that followed this controversy shook the whole world.

Mumbai Riots in 1992 followed by Godhra in 2002 made a crack in the unity and left a huge impact on Hindu and Muslims .

The dream of Hindu-Muslim unity still continues to be a dream even after the 64yrs of independence.

The ayodhya campaign did not enjoy the willing and the voluntary support of the common person, even of the average hindu. Rather it was a disgrace on both the communities i.e hindu as well as muslims.

Can anyone answer what achievement was achieved by this demolition?

The foreign rulers sowed the seeds of disharmony among the certain sections of society and years after that we still have to bear the brunt.

For the identity and ego of one religion you cannot attack or break the identity and faith of another religion.How fair is that?

Religion is suppose to unite us.For all religion preaches the same thing that there is higher power.But who has the right to claim that which one of them is superior???.

For in this Hindustan as we call it, we have embraced secularism.

How can a piece of land, divide billions of Indians? There seems to be no end for this episode.

• For all we are same, just divided by religions and borders.Its on us what to choose Peace or bloodshed??.

Thank You

Presentation by:Gitika MahadikAnkita GharatBhavik HariaDurgesh KhuleAmogh KokateSurvesh Rawat