Ayodhya is one of the most important holy cities for the
Hindus. It is situated on the banks of Saryu river. The other holiest places of
the Hindus are Mathura, Haridwar, Kashi, Kanchi, and Ujjain. These holy cities
are believed to be the places that assure the visitors Moksha or Nirvana. The
difference between Ayodhya and other places is that the Hindus are forbidden
from worshipping at the Ram Janam Bhoomi. The disputed site has been contentious
for over a hundred years now.
Maryada Purushottam:
Belief in the Hinduism and feeling of strong nationalism
have always complemented each other. The message of Hinduism and life of Lord
Rama is nonviolence, patience and compassion for all living beings. Shri Ram is
the seventh avtaar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu. Shri Ram is called Maryada Purushottam i.e. an ideal
person.
Findings of the excavations:
In 1975-80, the Archaeological Survey of India, under the
leadership of Prof B. B. Lal, took up extensive excavations, in different parts
of India. The aim of these excavations was to establish the various sites
mentioned in Ramayan. Similar excavations were undertaken in Ayodhya, including
in two places around the Babri structure. The team established that the Shri
Ram Janmabhoomi site was occupied prior to 7th century BC. There is enough proof
of destruction of a mandir in honour of Shri Ram at Ayodhya in 1528. Two pits
were dug near the Babri structure. This led to the discovery of bases of
pillars of the destroyed temple. These were aligned in the same direction. The
pillars had distinctive Hindu carvings of the 12th century period. Even the Muslim
records attest to the fact of the destruction.
Archaeological excavations by
the Archaeological Survey of India in and around the disputed site in 1970,
1992 and 2003 have indicated a large ancient complex existed prior to the Babri
structure. Another important evidence is the land revenue records maintained by
the British, that have identified the site as Janmasthan of Lord Ram.
Destruction of temples: “a Ghazi he became”:
The Islamic invaders, all over the world, destroyed the
indigenous places of worship. India also faced these barbaric attacks in
which thousands of temples were demolished and thousands of Hindus were killed.
When Babur invaded India, he also had religious ambitions which are
clearly shown in his diary called Babur Nama. He says:
“For Islam’s sake, I wandered in the wilds,
Prepared for war with Pagans and Hindus,
Resolved myself to meet the martyr’s death,
Thanks be to God! a Ghazi I became.”
Prepared for war with Pagans and Hindus,
Resolved myself to meet the martyr’s death,
Thanks be to God! a Ghazi I became.”
The fact that the Babri structure was named after Babur also
points out to the role of this Islamic invader in the destruction of the temple
in 1528. In 1528, the Babri Mosque was constructed by Babur's general, Mir Baqi
on the orders of Babur after the demolition of the Ram Mandir. At that time the
janambhoomi was controlled by mahatama Shyamanand.
Cheating the Hindu Guru Mahatama Shyamanand:
Mahatama Shyamanand was so famous among masses that even
Muslim saints like Kajal Abbas Musa came to him for learning religion and
philosophy. Another Muslim Faqir Jalal Shah came to mahatama for getting his
teachings. But he was a fanatic who cheated his Hindu Guru and convinced Kajal
Abbas Musa that the Ram mandir should be demolished. Demolition of this temple
would have established strong roots of Islam in India. Both of them first won
confidence of Babur. They forcibly started burying dead Muslims around the Ram
janam bhoomi. Finally they got consent of Mir Baqi to demolish the temple. Mahatama
Shyamanand was deeply upset and he immersed idols of Lord Ram in the Saryu
river and went to Himalayas for meditation.
Killings of Pujaris:
Four Hindu Pujaris who tried to save the temple were
beheaded. A Hindu king Raja Mahtaab reached Ayodhya with a force of Ram
Bhakats. But in the continous fight with Mughals spreading over many days, all
the innocent Hindu Ram Bhakats were killed in count of Lakhs. After killing
Hindus, canons were used to demolish the Ram mandir. According to the renowned
Historian, Cunnigham, almost 1.5 Lakh Hindus were killed by forces of Mir Baqi.
It believed that in place of water, blood of Hindus was used in the
construction of the Masjid.
Killing of ninety thousand Hindus:
With in days, a devout Hindu Devideen Panday collected a
force of Ram Bhakats and attacked the masjid. People from far away villages
came to take part in this battle of self respect. Devideen Panday was hit by
bricks by the body guard of Mir Baqi. Later Panday killed the body guard who
had hit him. But Mir Baqi attacked the wounded Devideen Panday and killed him. Ninety
thousand Hindus were killed in this battle.
King of Hanswar, Ranvijay Singh fought a battle with Mir
Baqi with 25000 Hindus. After a battle of 10 days, all 25000 Hindus perished in
the war. Three thousand Hindu brave women under the leadership of widow of Ranvijay
Singh attacked the masjid. But this time too the Mughal forces defeated Hindus.
Swami Balramchari formed a force of Hindus and attacked the
masjid 20 times. Around 15 times he captured janambhoomi but this control
lasted for little time. Due to continued and long wars Swami Balramchari’s
health started deteriorating and he died.
Formation of a small chabootra under reign of Akbar:
Akbar formed a small temple/chabootra for worship at
Janambhoomi. That was his political policy to maintain a control over Hindus.
Massacre of Hindus by Aurangzeb:
When Aurangzeb captured power, he attacked Ayodhya multiple
times and demolished many temples and idols. During his reign, in 1640, Baba
Vaishnav Das fought a battle against Mughal general Janbaj Khan. A separate
force of sages and saints joined the Hindu force and defeated the Mughal Force.
This way, the temple made under the rule of Akbar was protected.
In 1660, Aurangzeb sent another force under Sayyad Hasan
Ali. He fought the combined force of Hindus and Sikhs under the Guru Gobind
Singh. Mughals were defeated and the Mughal general was killed.
In 1664, Mughal forces again attacked and killed more than
10000 Hindus. Many battles continued even after this battle. The chabootra or
the temple destroyed by Aurangzeb was rebuilt.
In 1858 again Hindu leader Baba Ramcharan Das tried to
capture the janam bhoomi but he was hanged by the British. The tree on which he
was hanged, was cut by the British so that it does not become an important
place of devotion for Hindus. Wherever Muslims demolished the Hindu structures,
new Islamic buildings were made on the ruins of the Hindu buildings to give a
political message that the Hindus have been conquered by the Muslims.
Proof of demolition in Babur Nama:
In the English translation of the Persian Babur Nama, Annete
Beveridge mentions specifically the destruction of the temple. She says that
Babur was impressed with the dignity and sanctity of the ancient Hindu temple at
the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi. As an obedient follower of Mohammed, Babur regarded
the substitution of the temple by a mosque as a dutiful and worthy action. So
demolition was done to spread Islam. The Babri Masjid was a monument of the
slavery and subjugation of the Hindus. When the temple was demolished, its
construction matter was used in building the mosque.
Demand of only the important sites:
The Hindus are not asking for the thousands of the
vandalised sites, but only the most important to them. Prior
to 1947, there have been a total of 77 recorded attempts to wrest the control
of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi from the clutches of Islam. The first recorded
communal clashes over the site date back to 1853. In 1859 the
colonial British administration put a fence around the site, denominating
separate areas of worship for Hindus and Muslims. The Mahants were allowed to
construct a raised platform in front of the mosque - the chabootra -
to commemorate the birthplace of Ram. A grill fence was raised between the
space of the mosque and that of the mandir.
Sacrifice of a cow and appearance of idols of Shri Ram:
In 1934, clashes occurred on Id-ul Zuha day, when, following
the sacrifice of a cow, the Bairagis of Hanuman Garhi took over the mosque and
destroyed two of the domes. But any further action was stopped by
government forces. In December 1949, the idols of Shri Ram and Sita appeared in
the Babri structure. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ordered that the idols be
removed, but the court restrained the order and allowed the puja to continue. In
1986 a district judge ordered
the gates of the mosque to be opened after almost five decades and allowed
Hindus to worship inside the disputed structure. The Court declined the removal
of the idols and prohibited Muslims within 200 feet of the idols. In February
1986, on court orders the locks at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi were removed. In
effect, the mosque was shut down. During the prime ministership of V P Singh,
Chandrashekar, and Narsimha Rao great efforts were made to recover the complete
site. But all the Prime ministers lacked the political will to do so due to
vote bank politics. They would have lost the Muslim votes if they had taken any
pro-Hindu step. The practice of secularism in this country means that Hindu
sentiments are not to be considered.
Movement for temple:
The movement for temple was launched in 1984 by
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to reclaim the site for Hindus by erecting a
temple dedicated to the infant Rama (Ramlalla), at this spot. The former Prime
Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had said that the construction of a temple
at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi is an expression of the national sentiment. The
site belongs to the Hindus. The Babri structure that stood there cannot be considered
to be a place of worship. It was a political monument to remind the Hindus that
they were slaves. The Hindus have made many sincere efforts to find a peaceful
solution to the problem, through negotiations. What happened on December 6,
1992, was an expression of the Hindu frustration at being denied what
legitimately belongs to them.
Babri masjid was not a masjid as per Islamic law:
According to Islam, for a mosque to be declared as mosque,
it is necessary that the five daily prayers are offered on a place on a permanent
basis. Records show that since the mid-1930s, Muslims stopped offering namaz at
the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi site. This argument points to the fact that it was a
structure associated with Muslims but was not a mosque as per Islamic law. At
the same time, Hindu worship at Ram Chabootra and Sita-ki-Rasoi, which existed
within the Babri structure compound, has been continuously going on from the
late 16th century. Since December
1949, Hindus started to offer pujas to Ram Lalla within the structure. This
worship at the spot continues even to this day, with the full sanction of the
judiciary.
Role of Mulayam Singh in killing innocent Hindus:
The foundation stone of the temple was laid on November 10,
1989. In 1990, the then BJP president
Lal Krishna Advani took out a cross-country rathyatra to garner support for the
move to build a Ram temple at the site. Almost 200,000 villages sent bricks,
300,000 pujas of the Ram Shilas were performed and altogether about 100 million
people attended the various processions that carried the bricks to and from
Ayodhya. Prime Minister Chandrashekhar intervened and tried to negotiate
with the various groups but talks failed.
So called secular forces had
decided to stop the movement. The then U.P. government used extreme force to
stop the karsevaks. On Nov.2, 1990 the Hindu karsevaks were brutally killed in
the police firing. This killing of unarmed innocent Hindus was done on the
orders of the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh: Mulayam Singh Yadav. The
dead bodies of killed Hindus were thrown in Saryu river. Hindus were dragged
out of their homes and were killed. The religious feelings took the shape of a
mass movement and the symbol of subjugation was brought to ground on Dec. 6,
1992. It is to be noted that in the process of demolition, no Musliim was
killed or targeted. A very serious riot broke out in Bijnor in 1990. Curfew had
to be imposed for ten days. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav gave a speech on
October 9, in which he promised to protect Muslims from any activities of
Hindus. There were arrests of karsevaks who were subsequently imprisoned in
Bijnor. On October 30, when the BBC announced that the VHP had hoisted its flag
on the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Hindu victory processions marched in Bijnor.
They were stoned by Muslims, leading to widespread rioting. In all the
cases of murders of Hindus, no Muslim was prosecuted.
Bombay Blasts and killings of Hindus:
After the demolition of the masjid, there were Bombay blasts
in 1993 to avenge the demolition. The blasts took place in Hindu majority
areas. In all the riots following the demolition, Hindus were killed, their
businesses and shops were burnt. No prosecution was done of any Muslim. Mumbai
witnessed two spells of rioting from December 6 to 12, 1992, and then from
January 7 to 16, 1993. In Pakistan too, various temples were demolished and
minority Hindus were persecuted.
What is true secularism in India?:
Whenever such incident happens in any country there is a
mass killing or genocide of one community by the majority community. On the
other hand, the Hindus only demolished the masjid that was illegally made. No
Muslims were attacked or killed. It is in India that secularism has turned in
to being anti-Hindu. This is the country where anybody is safe but the Hindus.
The majority community has been targeted and hurt time and again. Even when
Hindu karsevaks did not kill any one, they were called “Hindu Militias”.
Godhra carnage:
In 2002, the VHP set March 15 as the deadline for
construction of temple to begin. Hundreds of volunteers converged on the
site. On February 27, at least 58 people were killed in Godhra, Gujarat,
in an attack on a train carrying Hindu volunteers from Ayodhya. These people
were burnt alive by Muslims. Riots followed in the state and over 1000 people
were reported to have died in these riots.
ASI’s report to the High Court:
In 2003 the Archaeological Survey of India reported to the
high court that its excavations found distinctive features of a 10th century
temple beneath the Babri Mosque site. The Sunni Central Waqf Board termed the
report as 'vague and self-contradictory'. The ASI report said there is
sufficient proof of existence of a massive and monumental structure having a
minimum dimension of 50x30 metres in north-south and east-west directions
respectively just below the disputed structure.
In July 2005
Islamic militants attacked the disputed site, using a jeep laden with
explosives to blow a hole in the wall of the complex. Security forces killed 6
militants.
On 30 September 2010, Allahabad High Court ruled that the
2,400 square feet disputed land in Ayodhya will be divided into three parts:
the site of the Ramlala idol, Sunni Wakf Board gets one third and Nirmohi
Akhara gets Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutara.
Structures like Babri masjid are the symbols of subjugation
and no self respecting nation can tolerate such a shame. There have been demolitions
of more than 3,000 temples, fraudulent or forceful conversion of crores of
Hindus. This is the time that there should be a magnificent Ram Mandir which is
a right of Hindus. Thousands of temples have been broken by Muslims all across
India, which are not demanded by Hindus. But the birth place of Lord Ram is the
right of Hindus. If Mecca and Madina can not be taken from Muslims, if the
Vatican can not be denied to Christians, then why Ayodhya is denied to the
Hindus?
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