Short report Babri Masjid Controversey

 

Introduction

The Ayodhya issue is a political, historical and socio-religious debate. This controversial issue has always been a big influence on Indian politics for several decades.
 

The disputed land at Ayodhya in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh has always played a major role in impacting adversely, the communal harmony of India.
 

The Babri Masjid (Mosque of Babur), was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill. It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organizers that the mosque would not be harmed. More than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in ensuing riots in many major Indian cities including Mumbai and Delhi.

 

The mosque was constructed in 1527 by order of Babur, the first Mughal emperor of India. Mir Baki, after (allegedly) seizing the Hindu structure from priests, named it Babri Masjid.

 

Case Details: Different view points

 

·    Hindu account

When the Muslim emperor Babur came down from Ferghana in 1527, he defeated the Hindu King of Chittodgad, Rana Sangrama Singh at Sikri, using cannon and artillery. After this victory, Babur took over the region, leaving his general, Mir Baqi, in charge as viceroy.

 

Mir Baqi built the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya naming it after Emperor Babur. Although there is no reference to the new mosque in Babur's diary, the Baburnama, the pages of the relevant period are missing in the diary. The contemporary Tarikh-i-Babari records that Babur's troops "demolished many Hindu temples at Chanderi"

 

Palaeographic evidence of an older Hindu temple on the site emerged from an inscription on a thick stone slab recovered from the debris of the demolished structure in 1992. Over 260 other artifacts were recovered on the day of demolition, and many point to being part of the ancient temple. The inscription on the slab has 20 lines, 30 shlokas (verses), and is composed in Sanskrit written in the Nagari script. The ‘Nagari Lipi’ script was prevalent in the eleventh and twelfth century.

 

The first twenty verses are the praises of the king Govind Chandra Gharhwal (AD 1114 to 1154) and his dynasty. The twenty-first verse says the following; "For the salvation of his soul the King, after paying his obeisance at the little feet of Vamana Avatar (the incarnation of Vishnu as a midget Brahmana), went about constructing a wondrous temple for Vishnu Hari (Shri Rama) with marvelous pillars and structure of stone reaching the skies and culminating in a superb top with a massive sphere of gold and projecting shafts in the sky - a temple so grand that no other King in the History of the nation had ever built before."

 

It further states that this temple was built in the temple-city of Ayodhya.

 

In another reference, the Faizabad District Judge on a plaint filed by Mahant Raghubar Das gave a judgment on 18 March, 1886. Though the plaint was dismissed, the judgment brought out two relevant points:

 

"I found that Masjid built by Emperor Babur stands on the border of the town of Ayodhya. It is most unfortunate that Masjid should have been built on land specially held sacred by the Hindus, but as that event occurred 358 years ago, it is too late now to remedy the grievance. All that can be done is to maintain the parties in status quo. In such a case as the present one any innovation would cause more harm and derangement of order than benefit."

 

Jain account

According to Jain Samata Vahini, a social organization of the Jains, "the only structure that could be found during excavation would be a sixth century Jain temple".

 

Sohan Mehta, the General Secretary of Jain Samata Vahini, claims that the demolished disputed structure was actually built on the remnants of an ancient Jain temple, and that the excavation by ASI, ordered by Allahabad High Court to settle the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute, would prove it.

 

Mehta quoted writings of 18th century Jain monks stating Ayodhya was the place where five Jain tirthankars, Rishabhdeo, Ajitnath, Abhinandannath, Sumatinath and Anantnath stayed. The ancient city was among the five biggest centers of Jainism and Buddhism prior to 1527.

 

Muslim account

There is no historical record pointing to the destruction of even the existence of the Hindu Temple at the site when Mir Baqi erected the Masjid in 1528. When Ram idols were placed in the Mosque illegally on December 23, 1949, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to UP chief minister G B Pant demanding the mischief to be undone because "a dangerous example is being set there." The local administrator, Faizabad's deputy commissioner K K Nayar dismissed Nehru's concerns. While he admitted that the installation of the idols was "an illegal act", Nayar refused to remove them from the mosque claiming that "the depth of feeling behind the movement ... should not be underestimated." In the 2010 High Court verdict that gives two-third of the land to Hindu Temple, thousands of pages of the verdict have been devoted to quotes from Hindu scriptures, but little effort was made to examine the illegality of the 1949 act. According to Manoj Mitta, "The mischief played with the idols, in a bid to convert a masjid into a mandir, was central to the adjudication of the title suits."

 

Muslims and other critics claim that the archeological reports, that are relied upon by Hindu extremist groups are politically motivated. Critics point out that the "presence of animal bones throughout as well as of the use of ‘surkhi' and lime mortar" that was found by ASI are all characteristic of Muslim presence "that rule out the possibility of a Hindu temple having been there beneath the mosque," but the report claimed otherwise on the basis of ‘pillar bases' was "manifestly fraudulent" in its assertions since no pillars were found, and the alleged existence of ‘pillar bases' has been debated by archaeologists.

 

Conflicts over the site

The first recorded incident of violence over the issue between Hindus and Muslims in modern times took place in 1853 during the reign of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh. A Hindu sect called the Nirmohis claimed the structure, contending that the mosque stood on the spot where a temple had been destroyed during Babar’s time. Violence erupted from time to time over the issue in the next two years and the civil administration had to step in, refusing permission to build a temple or to use it as a place of worship.

 

According to the District Gazetteer Faizabad 1905, "up to this time (1855), both the Hindus and Muslims used to worship in the same building. But since the Mutiny (1857), an outer enclosure has been put up in front of the Masjid and the Hindus forbidden access to the inner yard, make the offerings on a platform (chabootra), which they have raised in the outer one."

 

Efforts in 1883 to construct a temple on this chabootra were halted by the Deputy Commissioner who prohibited it on January 19, 1885. Raghubir Das, a mahant, filed a suit before the Faizabad Sub-Judge. Pandit Harikishan was seeking permission to construct a temple on this chabootra measuring 17 ft. x 21 ft., but the suit was dismissed. An appeal was filed before the Faizabad District Judge, Colonel J.E.A. Chambiar who, after an inspection of spot on March 17, 1886, dismissed the appeal. A Second Appeal was filed on May 25, 1886, before the Judicial Commissioner of Awadh, W. Young, who also dismissed the appeal. With this, the first round of legal battles fought by the Hindus came to an end.

 

During the "communal riots" of 1934, walls around the Masjid and one of the domes of the Masjid were damaged. These were reconstructed by the British Government.

 

Archaeological Survey of India report

Archaeological excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1970, 1992 and 2003 in and around the disputed site have indicated a large Hindu complex existed on the site.

 

In 2003, by the order of an Indian Court, The Archaeological Survey of India was asked to conduct a more indepth study and an excavation to ascertain the type of structure that was beneath the rubble. The summary of the ASI report indicated definite proof of a temple under the mosque. In the words of ASI researchers, they discovered "distinctive features associated with temples of north India".  

 

Criticism

Critics strongly criticized the report saying that the report point out that the "presence of animal bones throughout as well as of the use of ‘surkhi' and lime mortar" that was found by ASI are all characteristic of Muslim presence "that rule out the possibility of a Hindu temple having been there beneath the mosque," but the report claimed otherwise on the basis of ‘pillar bases' was "manifestly fraudulent" in its assertions since no pillars were found, and the alleged existence of ‘pillar bases' has been debated by archaeologists. Critics also point out that ASI failed to mention any evidence of a temple in its interim reports and only revealed it in the final report which was submitted during a time of national tension, making the report highly suspect.. This view was shared by many Muslim religious groups including the Sunni Waqf Board and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

 

Examining the ASI's conclusion of a mandir (Hindu temple) under the structure, the VHP and the RSS stepped up demands for Muslims to restore the three holiest North Indian mandirs to Hindus.

 

Demolition

On 16 December 1992, the Liberhan Commission was set up by the Government of India to probe the circumstances that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid. It has been the longest running commission in India's history with 48 extensions granted by various governments. The commission submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 30 June 2009, more than 16 years after the incident.

 

Contents of the report were leaked to the news media in November 2009. The report blamed the high-ranking members of the Indian government and Hindu nationalists for the destruction of the mosque. Its contents caused uproar in the Indian parliament.

 

The Liberhan report has pieced together a sequence of events as they happened on December 6, 1992, the day the Babri Masjid was demolished by Kar Sevaks.

 

On that Sunday morning, LK Advani and others met at Vinay Katiyar's residence. They then proceeded to the disputed structure, the report says. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Katiyar reached the puja platform where symbolic Kar Seva was to be performed, and Advani and Joshi checked arrangements for the next 20 minutes. The two senior leaders then moved 200 metre away to the Ram Katha Kunj. This was a building facing the disputed structure where a dais had been erected for senior leaders.

 

At noon, a teenage Kar Sevak was "vaulted" on to the dome and that signaled the breaking of the outer cordon. The report notes that at this time Advani, Joshi and Vijay Raje Scindia made "feeble requests to the Kar Sevaks to come down... either in earnest or for the media's benefit". No appeal was made to the Kar Sevaks not to enter the sanctum sanctorum or not to demolish the structure. The report notes: "This selected act of the leaders itself speaks of the hidden intentions of one and all being to accomplish demolition of the disputed structure."

 

The report holds that the "icons of the movement present at the Ram Katha Kunj could just as easily have... prevented the demolition."

 

(scenes of hindu extremists busy in demolition)

 

Demolition planned in advance

In a 2005 book former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Maloy Krishna Dhar claimed that Babri Masjid demolition was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of RSS, BJP and VHP and raised questions over the way the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, had handled the issue. Dhar claimed that he was directed to arrange the coverage of a key meeting of the BJP/Sangh Parivar and that the meeting "proved beyond doubt that they (RSS, BJP, VHP) had drawn up the blueprint of the Hindutva assault in the coming months and choreographed the ‘pralaya nritya’ (dance of destruction) at Ayodhya in December 1992... The RSS, BJP, VHP and the Bajrang Dal leaders present in the meeting amply agreed to work in a well-orchestrated manner." 

 

 

LATEST UPDATE

The Allahabad High Court announced LATE LAST MONTH (Sept 2010) the verdict on ‘Babri Masjid Case.’ The court ruled out Thursday that the site of demolished 16th century Babri Masjid would be divided three ways between Hindus and Muslims.

 

According to the lawyers who were speaking to media said that the lawsuit filed by Sunni Waqf Board was dismissed. Ravi Shankar Prasad, a lawyer for one of the parties in the suit said that the Muslim community would get one third and two Hindu groups would split the remainder. AAJ News correspondent in Delhi Pushpinder added that the inner portion of Babri Masjid was handed over to Hindus.

 

The bench that announced the verdict comprised of Justice VD Sharma, Justice S. Agarwal and Justice S.U. Khan.

 

The verdict is almost certain to be challenged in the Supreme Court and a final decision could take years.