Sajjad Shaukat
TWENTY-EIGHT years ago, Indian Constitution which claims India to be a secular state was torn into pieces when on December 6, 1992, a large crowd of Hindu Karsevaks (Volunteers) entirely demolished the 16th-century Babri Masjid (Mosque) in Ayodhya, Utter Pradesh in a pre-planned attempt to reclaim the land known as RAM Janmabhoomi–birthplace of the god. The demolition of the Babri Masjid sparked Muslim outrage in India, provoking several months of inter-communal rioting between Hindu and Muslim communities, causing the death of at least 2,000 people, majority of whom were Muslims. The governments of several neighbouring countries, including those of the Islamic world condemned the Indian government for failing to stop the destruction of the historical mosque.
In a 2005 book, India’s former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Maloy Krishna Dhar wrote that Babri mosque demolition was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP/Sangh Parivar, VHP, Shiv Sena, the Bajrang Dal and the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Dhar elaborated, “He had drawn up the blueprint of the Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) assault at Ayodhya in December 1991.” A 2009 report of the Inquiry Commission, authored by retired High Court Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, found 68 people to be responsible for the destruction of the Babri Masjid, mostly leaders from the BJP. But no action was taken against them. By showing prejudice in favour of Hindus, on September 30, 2010, the Allahabad High Court ruled that the 2,400 square feet (220 m2) disputed plot of land, on which the Babri Masjid had stood would be divided into three parts. The site at which the idol of Rama had been placed was granted to Hindus in general, the Sunni Wakf Board got one third of the plot, and the Hindu sect Nirmohi Akhara got the remaining third. The excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India were heavily used as evidence by the court to support its so-called finding that the original structure at the site was a massive Hindu religious building. Anti-Muslim biased approach could be judged from the verdict of the Supreme Court of India. In November last year, while announcing its judgement on the disputed land regarding the Babri mosque, the court ruled in favour of the Hindus and said that a temple will be constructed on the Ayodhya land.
Besides, in the pretext of lack of evidence and ignoring the facts, Indian apex court on September 30 this year acquitted all the Hindu nationalist leaders, including former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani in the Babri Masjid demolition case. In its biased verdict, the court even neglected the authenticity of audio and video evidence submitted in the case. During the trial, Central Bureau (CBI) produced 351 witnesses and 600 documents as evidence. Initially, the court had framed charges against 49 accused, however, 17 accused have since died. Advani, who was the then BJP chief, was among 32 people accused of criminal conspiracy and inciting a mob to tear down the mosque. In the faulty verdict, the court pinned the blame on miscreants mingled among the crowd instead, adding that leaders such as Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, another former Cabinet Minister, had tried to keep the mob from turning violent.
Jai Bhagwan Goyal, a defendant who was acquitted, stated: “We had done nothing wrong. The whole of India is happy. Lord Ram’s temple is coming up in Ayodhya city.” Zafaryab Jilani, a counsel for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board said that the court had ignored all the evidence. On the same day, the judgement was announced, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez, in a statement, strongly condemned shameful acquittal of those responsible for demolishing the historic Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. The Spokesperson elaborated: “the Hindutva-inspired [Hindu nationalism] Indian judiciary miserably failed to deliver the justice again…if there was a semblance of justice in the so-called largest democracy, the individuals, who had boasted of the criminal act publicly, could not have been set free…this is yet another manifestation of the pliant judiciary under the extremist BJP-RSS regime in which extremist Hindutva’ ideology takes precedence over all principles of justice and international norms…the RSS-BJP regime and the Sangh Parivar are responsible for the continued desecration and demolition of mosques in India in an organised manner as they did during the Gujarat massacre of 2002 and Delhi programme in 2020”.Indian Prime Minister Modi’s anti-Muslim chauvinism took a dangerous turn on August 5, this year when he laid the foundation stone for the Hindu Ram temple at bhoomi pujan ceremony at the site of the demolished Babri mosque in Ayodhya. 5th of August was the first anniversary of the abrogation of articles 35A and 370 of the Indian Constitution, which gave a special status to the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK). Nevertheless, apart from other frenzy events, the demolition of the Babri Masjid will remain a major scar on Indian so-called secularism, as on the very day (6th December); Indian fundamentalist leaders broke all the records of Hindutva terror by deliberately hurting the feelings of the Muslims. The atrocities and tyranny let loose on that day in Ayodhya continues unabated against the Muslims in one form or the other, under the Modi regime.
—The writer is freelance columnist based in Lahore.
