KANCHAN BASU
The ‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ movement for a temple at Ayodhya has a timeline running over more than 200 years, with several milestones and spilling of blood. Here is a brief history.
BEFORE INDEPENDENCE:
In 1751, the Marathas appealed to the Nawab of Awadh, whom they had helped defeat Pathan forces in the doab region, to transfer control of Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura to them, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha Shri Balbir Punj writes in his book ‘Tryst With Ayodhya’. In 1756 too, when Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula soughttheir help against an imminent Afghan invasion, the Marathas requested that the three sites be transferred to them. However, the Nawab switched sides later, and the Maratha demand became irrelevant. Punj says that in judicial records, the Ayodhya dispute dates back to 1822. A court official called Hafizullah made a submission to the Faizabad court in 1822 that a mosque built by Babur on the birthplace of Lord Ram stood in proximity to Sita Rasoi in Ayodhya. On July 28, 1855, there was a bloody clash between Hindus and Muslims at Hanuman Garhi temple near the Babri Masjid. The 2019 Supreme Court (SC) judgment on the Ayodhya title suit says, “It is said that up to that time the Hindus and Muhammadans alike used to worship in the mosque-temple. Since British Rule, a railing has been put up to prevent the disputes….” In 1855, Janmasthan Mahant Raghubar Das moved court to seek permission to build a temple at the Ram Chabutra, close to the Masjid but within the complex. The petition was dismissed on the grounds that historical justice could not be delivered after so long.
AFTER 1947:
In July 1949, a petition was made to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government that a temple should come up at the site. The government forwarded it to the district administration of Faizabad. City magistrate of Faizabad, Guru Dutt Singh, submitted a report in October 1949, saying the land belongs to the government and that people have faith in Ram Lalla and want a temple.
On August 14, 1949, the UP Hindu Mahasabha passed a resolution for the ‘liberation’ of Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya, Krishna Janmabhoomi at Mathura and the Vishwanath temple at Kashi. On the night of December 22-23, 1949 the idol of Ram Lalla was supposedly placed in the mosque by Abhiram Das, born Abhinandan Mishra before he became an ascetic (according to the Liberhan Commission). Supporters of the Ram temple claimed the idol had appeared by itself. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru directed the UP government to get the idol removed. However, City Magistrate Guru Dutt Singh, termed the “firstKar Sewak” by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal, did not allow Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant to enter Faizabad-Ayodhya and later resigned.
District Magistrate K. K. Nair also refused to remove the idol, citing law and order concerns. Congress leader and former UP minister Dau Dayal Khanna was the first politician to write to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in May 1983 demanding the restoration of Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura to the Hindus.
On April 7 and 8, 1984, at a Dharma Sansad in Delhi, the VHP in Delhi announced the launch of a movement for the ‘liberation’ of the holy sites at Ayodhya, Mathura, and Kashi.
In December, 1986, Faizabad district judge K. M. Pandey ordered the opening of the locks of the Babri Masjid and permitted Hindus to offer prayers therein. The judge later claimed in his book, Voice of Conscience that a black monkey sat on the roof of the courtroom when the hearing was on. When he delivered the judgment and went home, he saw the “same monkey” in his lawn, and saluted him, “treating him to be some Divine Power”.
In mid-February 1986, the All-India Muslim Personal Board met in Delhi and urged political parties to support their demand for the handing over of the Babri Masjid to Muslims. On February 3, 1986, Hasim Ansari, one of the litigants who had field a writ petition on behalf of the Sunni Waqf Board on December 18, 1961 seeking possession of the Babri Masjid, moved the Allahabad High Court (HC). The court said that until further orders by it, the nature of the property shall not change. On February 6, 1986, the Babri Masjid Action Committee was formed in Lucknow. On July 10, 1989, the Allahabad HC decided to consolidate all suits related to the matter. In July 1989, first time the BJP under the leadership of Lal Krishna Advani plunged into the movement, passing its Himachal Pradesh’s Palampur resolution that said the Ram Janmabhoomi should be handed over to the Hindus through a negotiated settlement or legislation. In September 1989, the VHP announced it would take consecrated bricks (Ram Shila) from all over the country and perform a Shilanyas (foundation-laying) for a Ram temple at Ayodhya on October 10, 1989. The Congress government permitted it. Rajiv Gandhi launched his 1989 Lok Sabha campaign from Ayodhya. The foundation-laying ceremony was held on November 9, 1989, and Kameshwar Chaupal, a Dalit, laid the first Ram Shila. On September 25, 1990, then BJP president Lal Krishna Advani started a Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. There were riots in many parts of India, killing about 600 people. The police fired on Kar Sewaks in Ayodhya on October 30 and November 2. Mulayam Singh Yadav was Chief Minister of UP.
On December 6, 1992, huge number of Kar Sewaks, VHP leaders, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders, and BJP leaders demolished the Babri Masjid. On January 7, 1993, Parliament passed the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act, through which the government acquired 67.03 acres of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land. It also asked the SC to determine whether there was a temple at the site before the Babri Masjid. The Justice Liberhan Commission report was submitted on June 30, 2009. It said the events of December 1992 were neither spontaneous nor unplanned. In April 2017, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court framed criminal charges against Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, and others. On September 30, 2020, the court acquitted all 32 accused on grounds of inconclusive evidence. In 2010, a special bench of the Allahabad High Court divided the disputed land in a 2:1 ratio, with two-third of the land was given to the Sunni Central Waqf Board. The verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court by both Hindu and Muslim litigants. On November 9, 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court awarded the entire disputed land to the Hindu petitioners.
The ‘Shilanyas’ and the ‘Inauguration’ of the Ram temple was done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5, 2020, and January 22, 2024 respectively in Ayodhya.
