One of the most important events of India, post Independence, is undoubtedly Babri Masjid dispute. The controversies, the communal tensions, the political battle over the issue, the religious flare ups, etc. have been the hallmark of this dispute. It has drawn worldwide attention and it has been the reason for the governments to collapse and governments to form. Today Babri Masjid stands a contentious point in every election and is more a political issue rather than a religious issue or matter of belief.
Just a day before the 25th anniversary of the demolition of the Historic Babri Masjid, Supreme Court is likely to coomence the final hearing of the long standing dispute. A specially constituted bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer will be hearing a total of 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement of the Allahabad High Court in four civil suits.
Let us have a look at the history of the “Ayodhya Dispute”.
What is Ayodhya Dispute ?
At the core of the nearly 70-year-old “Ayodhya Dispute” is that the belief that Lord Ram was born 9,00,000 years ago in the Treta Yuga, in a room located under what was the central dome of the Babri Masjid. The masjid was built on the orders of Mughal emperor Babur in the 16th century and had occupied 1,482.5 square yards before its demolition by kar sevaks on December 6, 1992.
The dispute is about a plot of land in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. This particular site is considered among the Hindus to be the birthplace of Lord Rama, but it also located the Babri Masjid. The question arises if an earlier Hindu temple was demolished or modified to create the mosque. The issue is one of its kind. It has defined people’s history, especially the ambiguity that distills the belief of a civilisation and in the later stages, a strife that had the capability of disrupting the social equilibrium of a modern state. In aeonic terms, the controversy is unique as it has stretched out for more than half a millennium. Two empires (Mughals and British) to the third regime of modern India. The Babri Masjid was demolished by a gathering of more than 2 lakh Karsevaks in the year 1992, followed by communal riots all across India. The destruction of Babri Masjid had triggered the culmination of the historic schism. Later in the year 2002, in an attack on a train which carrying Hindu volunteers from Ayodhya, many were killed. This was followed by riots in Gujarat, which reportedly killed thousands of people.
History
According to the Hindus, the land on which the Babri mosque was built in 1528 is the ‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ (birthplace of the god-king Rama). But, Mir Baqi, one of Mughal king Babur’s generals, is said to have destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama and built a mosque called Babri Masjid (Babur’s mosque) at the site.
Both the communities have worshiped at the “mosque-temple”, Muslims inside the mosque and Hindus outside it. However, in 1885 a petition was filed by the the head of the Nirmohi Akhara asking for permission to offer prayers to Ram Lalla inside what was known as the Babri Masjid.
The permission was not given but in 1886, district Judge of Faizabad court FEA Chamier gave his verdict and said, “It is most unfortunate that a masjid should have been built on land specially held sacred by the Hindus, but as that event occurred 356 years ago, it is too late now to remedy the grievance.”
It was in 1950 that a local resident Gopal Singh Visharad filed a complaint in the civil courts requesting permission to offer prayers in the mosque where the idols were installed.
Conflict
The recent SC order has asked for an amicable, out-of-court settlement in the ongoing dispute. The Apex court said that instead of a judicial pronouncement, as the settlement was a better course of action. An Allahabad High Court order in 2010, had said that there should be a partition of the site in Ayodhya and distributed among the concerned parties, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had urged the Supreme court to constitute a bench to hear a batch of petitions which had challenged the 2010 Allahabad High Court order. However, SC has said that it is a sensitive and sentimental issue and it’s best to be settled amicably.
After the Babri Masjid demolition, the court had ordered a survey to investigate of a Ram temple on the site. Later evidence was found of such a temple under the mosque, which was again disputed. Later many BJP leaders were asked to stand trial for inciting the demolition of Babri Masjid. The issue, after 1992 saw many disputable judgements, including the Liberhan Commission, that was instituted in 1992, but it submitted its report in 2009. 17 years later, the report was submitted, and leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh, Pramod Mahajan were found culpable.
Title cases
In 1950, Gopal Singh Visharad filed a title suit with the Allahabad High Court seeking injunction to offer ‘puja’ (worship) at the disputed site. A similar suit was filed shortly after but later withdrawn by Paramhans Das of Ayodhya. In 1959, the Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu religious institution, filed a third title suit seeking direction to hand over the charge of the disputed site, claiming to be its custodian. A fourth suit was filed by the Muslim Central Board of Wakf for declaration and possession of the site. The Allahabad high court bench began hearing the case in 2002, which was completed in 2010. However, the bench withheld its verdict till 24 September. After the Supreme Court dismissed a plea to defer the High Court verdict, the High Court set 30 September 2010 as the final date for pronouncing the judgement.
On 30 September 2010, the High Court of Allahabad, the three-member bench comprising justices S. U. Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and D. V. Sharma, ruled that the disputed land be split into three parts. The site of the Ramlala idol would go to the party representing Ram Lalla Virajman (the installed Infant Ram deity), Nirmohi Akhara to get Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutara, and the Sunni Wakf Board to get the rest. The court also ruled that the status quo should be maintained for three months.
Reacting to the verdict, all the three parties announced that they would appeal against the division of disputed land in the Supreme Court of India. All the three parties, however, conceded that this judgment was an important step towards the resolution of a long-standing dispute. On December 5, 2017, Supreme Court started final hearing on the case.
The case timeline
1949: Idols of Ram Lalla are placed surreptitiously under the central dome.
1950: Gopal Simla Visharad files first suit in Faizabad civil court for rights to perform pooja to Ram Lalla.
1950: Paramahansa Ramachandra Das files a suit for continuation of pooja and keeping idols in the structure.
1959: Nirmohi Akhara files third suit, seeking direction to hand over charge of the disputed site. U.P. Sunni Central Wakf Board files fourth suit in 1961 for declaration and possession and fifth in 1989 in the name of Ram Lalla Virajman for declaration and possession.
1986: District judge orderes locks be removed. Site opened for Hindu worshippers.
1989: The four suits pending were transferred to the High Court.
1991: U.P. govt. acquires land around the structure for convenience of devotees who attend Ram Lalla darshan.
December 1992: Babri Masjid demolished by a frenzied mob of karsevaks. Two FIRs filed in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Crime no. 197 deals with actual “demolition of the mosque by karsevaks.” Crime no. 198 named L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and others for ‘communal’ speeches before the demolition.
1993: Govt. takes over 67 acres of land around the area, seeks SC’s opinion on whether there existed a Hindu place of worship before the structure was built.
October, 1993: CBI files a composite charge sheet and accuses Advani and other leaders of ‘conspiracy’
1994: Case goes back to Lucknow Bench of HC, suits heard again from 1996.
May 4, 2001: Special Judge S.K. Shukla drops conspiracy charge against 13 accused, including Mr. Advani and Kalyan Singh. Bifurcates Crimes 197 and 198.
May 20, 2010: Advani, others absolved of conspiracy charges
Allahabad HC upholds May 4, 2001 special court order, dismisses the CBI’s revision petition for a direction to proceed with the conspiracy charge against Mr. Advani and others.
September 30, 2010: Allahabad HC awards two-thirds of Ayodhya site to Hindu parties, one-third to Waqf Board.
February, 2011: CBI moves Supreme Court. Argues that “the actual demolition of the Babri Masjid and the continuous assault on media persons form a single connected transaction and can well be a concerted conspiracy”.
May 9, 2011: Supreme Court stays Allahabad High Court verdict on Ayodhya dispute.
December 25, 2014: Oldest litigant in Babri Masjid case passes away
Mohammad Farooq, a resident of Ayodhya, was one of the seven main litigants from Muslim side in the 1949 Babri Masjid case.
March 6, 2017: SC indicates it may revive conspiracy charge and order a joint trial of crimes 197 and 198.
March 21, 2017: Suggesting an out-of-court rapprochement among rival parties in the 68-year-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar advised peace negotiations instead of a pitched court battle, even offering help to settle the fight amicably.
March 23, 2017: A Supreme Court Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Rohinton Nariman posted for detailed hearing the CBI appeal against the dropping of the criminal conspiracy charge against veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani and other top party leaders after two weeks.
April 6, 2017: The Supreme Court indicated that it will use its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to transfer the Babri Masjid demolition related trial in Rae Bareilly against top BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to Lucknow, where a CBI court is hearing conspiracy and other serious criminal charges against “lakhs of unknown kar sevaks” for the actual act of razing down the 15th century mosque.
April 19, 2017: The Supreme Court revived conspiracy charges against L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and 13 others in the 25-year-old Babri Masjid demolition cases.
May 30, 2017: L.K. Advani Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar charged with criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
August 8, 2017: Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board tells Supreme Court that they would settle for a masjid located in a “Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the most revered place of birth of Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram.” They tell the Court that the Babri Masjid was a Shia waqf (endowment) and their Sunni counterpart, who have been at the frontline of the 70-year-old title dispute, were mere interlopers led by “hardliners, fanatics and non-believers” who do not want an amicable settlement with the Hindu sects involved.
August 11, 2017: Supreme Court schedules hearing of 13 appeals in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute on December 5, 2017, the eve of the 25th anniversary of the demolition of the 15th century mosque.
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