Saman Hamid
It has been 25 years since the demolition of Babri mosque. Built in 16thCentury by Mughal emperor Babar, Hindus dispute that the place marks the birthplace of their god RAM. Around 150,000 people gathered around the mosque in protest and events soon took a turn for worse as some amidst the group started climbing the mosque and ultimately demolished it. According to officials three main groups were responsible; Vishwa Hindu Preshad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, collectively forming Sangh Privar. Congress’ Narsima Rao’s government in the center was also blamed as the officials seemed paralyzed at curbing the events. Subsequent riots claimed 2000 lives in major cities of Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai. The event holds much more significance than a human rights abuse though. It was the day that sent shockwaves in the Muslim population of India. There had always been threats but they were never struck this blatantly except for at the time of partition , the ideology of India’s secularism saw deep fissures ones that never healed and with passage of time never will. Those who turned a blind eye to Kashmir for the first time realized the horrors Indian establishment had been inflicting in the name of “rule of law”.
Birthplace of RAM, “Janambhoomi”, revolves around religious values that are mostly based on mythologies this very claim has little base except for the fact that it comes from extremist ends in the “largest democracy’ of the world that mostly escapes the global scrutiny when it comes to human rights. According to Archeological Survey of India; noted archeologist like Mr. Jassu Ram have established that there were no signs of civilization in the time period before Christ that Hindus calm to be the time of birth of RAM. “Facts of Ayodhya Episode” authored by Abdul Rahim Quraishi, Assistant General Secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), cites the research and explains that Ayodhya got populated only in the seventh century whereas RAM was born 18 million years ago. Interestingly if the present Ayodhya was the birthplace of Ram, it would have been mentioned in Ramayana of Tulsidas, who penned the epic in 1574 CE in Ayodhya. Tulsidas wrote Ramayana during the time of Mughal emperor Akbar, the grandson of Babar. It is also noted that the real problems in the origins of Ayodhya arose some 421 years after the mosque was built, coinciding with independence of the subcontinent. The Vishua Hindu Pareshat (VHP) Party and Lal Krishan Advani took charge of the campaign against Babri Mosque in 1984. Subsequently VHP attempted to occupy and damage the mosque till in 1992 BJP’s government in Ayodhya enabled the sting operation called “Operation Janambhoomi” of Sangh Dal. Some 38 people were elaborately trained to execute the demolition of Babri Mosque in the name of “peaceful demonstration” taking the course of rioting. The timings of the developments surrounding this Hindu movement coincide with the rise of extremism in India.
According to some estimates there are approximately 14.2% Muslims in all of India, roughly equaling Pakistan’s population. The report took 17 years to be concluded about those responsible, all the big names unfortunately are still active politically, whether it is L Krishan Advani or Narsima Rao or Vajpayee. The case in courts against the culprits is still pending. The biggest democracy and champion of the free world let the issue of Babri Mosque brew and thousands lost their lives, similar incidents happened in Gujrat and now Prime Minister Narendre Modi holds his head up high with thousands killed in riots. Such flash bulbs in history go on validating the two nation theory. The deep societal divide and the glass ceiling that Muslims of India have to face is exposed to the entire world, yet trade routes and market hinder anyone to raise their voice. Perhaps the general population is also getting a taste of things to come as India plunges into one of the worst financial crisis directly hitting her growth and the grass roots.
