Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning "Mosque of Babur") was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 18th century. According to the mosque's inscriptions, it was built in 1528–29 (935 AH) by general Mir Baqi, on the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur. The mosque was attacked and demolished by Hindu Kar Sevaks in 1992, which ignited communal violence across the Indian subcontinent. The mosque was located on a hill known as Ramkot ("Rama's fort").
Introduction
Babri Masjid
Babri Masjid | Introduction
In 1992 1992 1992 6 December 1992
full name of current prime minister of india
user
Narendra Damodardas Modi
assistant
when did he become the prime minister?
user
In 2014
assistant
what has been his policies towards the environment?
user
Cancelled the Requirement of clearance  from NBA for projects close to wildlife, rRelaxed or Abolished regulations related to Industrial Activity & Modi lifted a moratorium on new industrial activity in the most polluted areas in the countries.
assistant
did he win another term after the first?
user
Yes. By securing 353 seats in the Lok Sabha with the BJP alone winning 303 seats.
assistant
what political party is he affiliated with?
user
Modi is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
assistant
has this party ever been accused of any violence?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
when was his party established?
user
In 1980
assistant
by whom?
user
By the Bharatiya Jana Sangh,
assistant
is mr.modi married?
user
Yes. To Jashodaben
assistant
before becoming the pm , what other careers did he have?
user
He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat
assistant
did this place face any riot?
user
Yes. The Godhra Riots
assistant
why did this take place?
user
A Hindu Religious ceremony at the site of the Demolished Babri Masjid and the Demolishing itself was the reason for this.
assistant
how did this masjid get its name?
user
The name was derived from Bābarī Masjid meaning Mosque of Babur
assistant
is there any story associated with this?
user
Not Particularly. However, it has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 18th century.
assistant
when was it demolished?
user
On 6 December 1992, BJP, VHP and RSS leaders gathered at the site to offer prayers and perform a symbolic "kar seva". At noon, a teenage "Kar Sevak" (volunteer) was "vaulted" on to the dome and that signalled the breaking of the outer cordon. Soon after, a large number of "kar sevak"s demolished the mosque.
Babri Masjid | Demolition
The Archaeological Survey of India states that the mosque was built on land where a non-Islamic structure had previously existed. In the 1980s, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to Rama at the site, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its political voice. Several rallies and marches were held as a part of this movement, including the "Ram Rath Yatra" led by L. K. Advani. On 6 December 1992 the VHP and the BJP organised a rally at the site involving 150,000 volunteers, known as "kar sevaks". The rally turned violent, and the crowd overwhelmed security forces and tore down the mosque.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Introduction
The status quo remained in place until 1949, when idols of Rama were surreptitiously placed inside the mosque, allegedly by volunteers of the Hindu Mahasabha. This led to an uproar, with both parties filing civil suits laying claim to the land. The placement of the idols was seen as a desecration by the users of the Masjid. The site was declared to be in dispute, and the gates to the Masjid were locked.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Background
The demolition of the Babri Masjid was illegally carried out on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The 16th-century Babri Mosque in the city of Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, had been the subject of a lengthy socio-political dispute, and was targeted after a political rally organised by Hindu nationalist organisations turned violent. In Hindu tradition, the city of Ayodhya is the birthplace of Rama. In the 16th century a Mughal general, Mir Baqi, had built a mosque, known as the Babri Masjid at a site identified by some Hindus as "Ram Janmabhoomi", or the birthplace of Rama.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Introduction
In Hinduism the birthplace of the deity Rama, known as "Ram Janmabhoomi", is considered a holy site. This site is often believed to be at the place where the Babri Masjid stood in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh: historical evidence to support this belief is scarce. There is a rough scholarly consensus that in 1528, following the Mughal conquest of the region, a mosque was built at the site by the Mughal general Mir Baqi, and named the "Babri Masjid" after the Mughal emperor Babur. Popular belief holds that Baqi demolished a temple of Rama to build the mosque; historical basis for the belief is debated.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Background
Archaeological evidence has been found of a structure pre-dating the mosque. This structure has been variously identified as a Hindu temple and a Buddhist structure. For at least four centuries, the site was used for religious purposes by both Hindus and Muslims. The claim that the mosque stood on the site of a temple was first made in 1822, by an official of the Faizabad court. The Nirmohi Akhara sect cited this statement in laying claim to the site later in the 19th century, leading to the first recorded incidents of religious violence at the site in 1855. In 1859 the British colonial administration set up a railing to separate the outer courtyard of the mosque to avoid disputes.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Background
The mob took this as a signal to attack and stormed the mosque, bearing hammers and axes. The policemen were outnumbered and unprepared, and fled the scene. The crowd set upon the mosque unopposed, and leveled it within a few hours. Hindu mobs also demolished a number of other mosques in Ayodhya. The demolition triggered massive Hindu-Muslim violence across the country, in which more than 2000 people, the majority of them Muslim, were killed. The central government ordered an inquiry into the demolition. The report of the inquiry, written by retired judge Manmohan Singh Liberhan, indicted 68 people for the demolition, including a number of BJP leaders.
Ram Rath Yatra | Demolition of the Babri Masjid
P. Gupta that the black basalt pillars in the Babri Masjid were once part of a Hindu temple. He also maintained that the carvings on the pillars were similar to those in the Buddhist architecture. The Babri Masjid was demolished on 6 December 1992.
Suraj Bhan (archaeologist) | Ayodhya dispute
A subsequent inquiry into the incident found 68 people responsible, including several leaders of the BJP and the VHP. The demolition resulted in several months of intercommunal rioting between India's Hindu and Muslim communities, causing the death of at least 2,000 people. Retaliatory violence against Hindus also occurred in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Introduction
The police cordon, vastly outnumbered and unprepared for the size of the attack, fled. The mob set upon the building with axes, hammers, and grappling hooks, and within a few hours, the entire structure, made from mud and chalk, was levelled. A 2009 report, authored by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, found 68 people to be responsible for the demolition of the Masjid, mostly leaders from the BJP. Among those named were Vajpayee, Advani, Joshi and Vijay Raje Scindia. Kalyan Singh, who was then the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, also faced severe criticism in the report. Liberhan wrote that he posted bureaucrats and police officers to Ayodhya, whose record indicated that they would stay silent during the mosque's demolition.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Demolition
Seeking to distance Hindu organisations from the Babri Mosque demolition, RSS chief K C Sudershan said that the Babri Mosque was demolished by government men and not by the Karsevaks. "The mosque was demolished by the government men and not by the Karsevaks," he said while addressing a gathering of RSS cadre and public at a meeting. Without mentioning whether he was referring to the Kalyan Singh-led-BJP government in power in Uttar Pradesh or the Congress regime at Centre then, he said he was present at Ayodhya and wanted to construct the Ram Temple at an undisputed place but they could not do so as the government men demolished Babri Mosque on 6 December 1992.
Liberhan Commission | RSS defence
The demolition and the ensuing riots were among the major factors behind the 1993 Mumbai bombings and many successive riots in the coming decade. Jihadi groups including the Indian Mujahideen cited the demolition of the Babri Mosque as a reason for their terrorist attacks.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Communal violence
Kar Seva was supposed to be conducted in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992 and he filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court that as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, he will not allow any damage to the mosque. However, Kar Sevaks demolished Babri mosque on that day. Taking the moral responsibility, he resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in the evening. Later, Union government dissolved Uttar Pradesh assembly.
Kalyan Singh | Role in demolition of Babri Masjid
A police cordon placed there to protect the mosque was heavily outnumbered. The mosque was attacked with a number of improvised tools, and brought to the ground in a few hours. This occurred despite a commitment from the state government to the Indian Supreme Court that the mosque would not be harmed. More than 2000 people were killed in the riots following the demolition. Riots broke out in many major Indian cities including Mumbai, Bhopal, Delhi and Hyderabad. On 16 December 1992, the Liberhan Commission was set up by the Government of India to probe the circumstances that led to the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
Ayodhya dispute | Demolition of the Babri Mosque
These incongruities and mismatches made no impression on Buchanan, who maintained that the mosque was built by Babur. In 1838, British surveyor Montgomery Martin wrote that the pillars in the mosque were taken from a Hindu temple. A section of historians, such as R. S. Sharma, deny this, and state that such claims of temple demolition sprang up only after the 18th century. In 1877, Syed Mohammad Asghar the Mutawalli (guardian) of the "Masjid Baburi at Janmasthan" filed a petition with the Commissioner of Faizabad asking him to restrain the Hindus that raised a chabutara on the spot regarded as the birthplace of Rama.
Babri Masjid | Inscriptions
On 6 December 1992, the RSS and its affiliates organised a rally involving 150,000 VHP and BJP "kar sevaks" at the site of the disputed structure. The ceremonies included speeches by BJP leaders such as Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti. During the first few hours of the rally, the crowd grew gradually more restless, and began raising slogans. A police cordon had been placed around the structure in preparation for attack. However, around noon, a young man managed to slip past the cordon and climb the structure itself, brandishing a saffron flag. This was seen as a signal by the mob, who then stormed the structure.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Demolition
In Pakistan, the government closed offices and schools on 7 December to protest against the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian ambassador to lodge a formal complaint, and promised to appeal to the United Nations and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to pressure India to protect the rights of Muslims. Strikes were held across the country, while Muslim mobs attacked and destroyed as many as 30 temples in one day by means of fire and bulldozers, and stormed the office of Air India, India's national airline, in Lahore. The retaliatory attacks included rhetoric from mobs calling for the destruction of India and of Hinduism.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Pakistan
Following the demolition, Muslim mobs in Bangladesh attacked and burned down Hindu temples, shops and houses across the country. An India-Bangladesh cricket match was disrupted when a mob of an estimated 5,000 men tried to storm the Bangabandhu National Stadium in the national capital of Dhaka. The Dhaka office of Air India was stormed and destroyed. 10 people were reportedly killed, 11 Hindu temples and several homes destroyed. The aftermath of the violence forced the Bangladeshi Hindu community to curtail the celebrations of Durga Puja in 1993 while calling for the destroyed temples to be repaired and investigations be held into the atrocities.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Bangladesh
Students from the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad burned an effigy of the then-Prime Minister of India, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and called for "Jihad" against Hindus. In subsequent years, thousands of Pakistani Hindus visiting India sought longer visas, and in some cases citizenship of India, citing increased harassment and discrimination in the aftermath of the demolition.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Pakistan
As they are considered important to the Muslim community, mosques, like other places of worship, can be at the heart of social conflicts. The Babri Mosque was the subject of such a conflict up until the early 1990s when it was demolished. Before a mutual solution could be devised, the mosque was destroyed on December 6, 1992 as the mosque was built by Babur allegedly on the site of a previous Hindu temple marking the birthplace of Rama. The controversy surrounded the mosque was directly linked to rioting in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) as well as bombings in 1993 that killed 257 people.
Mosque | Role in violent conflicts
He further stated that a mosque was constructed in its place, but the Hindus continued to offer prayers at a mud platform that marked the birthplace of Rama. In 1810, Francis Buchanan visited the site, and stated that the structure destroyed was a temple dedicated to Rama, not a house. Many subsequent sources state that the mosque was constructed after demolishing a temple. Police officer and writer Kishore Kunal states that all the claimed inscriptions on the Babri mosque were fake. They were affixed sometime around 1813 (almost 285 years after the supposed construction of the mosque in 1528 CE), and repeatedly replaced.
Ram Janmabhoomi | Babri Masjid site
According to Hindus, Baqi destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. The existence of this temple is a matter of controversy. Starting in the 19th century, there were several conflicts and court disputes between Hindus and Muslims over the mosque. In 1949, Hindu activists associated with the Hindu Mahasabha surreptitiously placed idols of Rama inside the mosque, after which the government locked the building to avoid further disputes. Court cases were filed by both Hindus and Muslims asking for access. The police locked the gates so that the public (Hindus as well as Muslims) could not enter.
Babri Masjid | Introduction
could just as easily have... prevented the demolition."
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Demolition
In April 1984, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) initiated a campaign to gather public support for Hindu access to the Babri Masjid and other structures that had been allegedly built over Hindu shrines. To raise public awareness, VHP planned nationwide "rath yatra"s (chariot processions), the first of which took place in September–October 1984, from Sitamarhi to Ayodhya. The campaign was temporarily suspended after assassination of Indira Gandhi, but revived in from 25 places on 23 October 1985. On 25 January 1986, a 28-year-old local lawyer Umesh Chandra Pandey, appealed to a court to remove the restrictions on Hindu worship in the Babri Masjid premises.
Babri Masjid | Demolition
In the 1990s, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) campaigned to reclaim the sites of the mosques that they believe were constructed after demolition of Hindu temples. After the demolition of the Babri mosque in December 1992, about a thousand policemen were deployed to prevent a similar incident at the Gyanvapi mosque site. The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, who supported the demand for "reclaiming" Babri mosque, opposed VHP's similar demand for Gyanvapi, on the grounds that it was an actively used mosque.
Gyanvapi Mosque | Demolition concerns
The Liberhan Commission set up by the Government to investigate the demolition later blamed 68 people including senior BJP, RSS and VHP leaders for the demolition. Among those criticised in the report were Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the party's chief LK Advani, and chief minister Kalyan Singh. A 2005 book by the former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Maloy Krishna Dhar claimed the senior leaders of RSS, BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal had planned the demolition 10 months in advance. He also suggested that the Indian National Congress leaders, including prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and home minister S B Chavan, had ignored warnings about the demolition for deriving political benefits.
Babri Masjid | Liberhan Commission
Communal riots between Hindus and Muslims occurred across India immediately following demolition of the mosque. Rioting in the immediate aftermath resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2,000 people. Six weeks of riots further erupted in Bombay, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 900 people. Jihadist outfits like Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba have cited the demolition of Babri Masjid as justification for attacks directed against India. Gangster Dawood Ibrahim, wanted in India for his alleged ties to the 1993 Bombay bombings which killed 257 people, is believed to have been infuriated by the Babri Masjid's demolition. The site has since become a magnet for pilgrims.
Babri Masjid | Aftermath
In a March 2005 book, former Intelligence Bureau head Maloy Krishna Dhar claimed that Babri mosque demolition was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP and VHP, and criticised the manner in which the then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao handled the issue. Dhar claimed that he was directed to arrange security for a meeting between individuals from the BJP and other constituents of the Sangh Parivar, and that the meeting "proved beyond doubt that they (RSS, BJP, VHP) had drawn up the blueprint of the Hindutva assault in the coming months and choreographed the "pralaya nritya" (dance of destruction) at Ayodhya in December 1992.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Conspiracy allegations
Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (Buchanan) did a survey of the Gorakhpur Division in 1813–14 on behalf of the British East India Company. His report was never published but partly reused by Montgomery Martin later. Kishore Kunal examined the original report in the British Library archives. It states that the Hindus generally attributed destruction "to the furious zeal of Aurangzabe". However it said that the mosque at Ayodhya was ascertained to have been built by Babur by "an inscription on its walls". The said inscription in Persian was said to have been copied by a scribe and translated by a Maulvi friend of Buchanan.
Babri Masjid | Inscriptions
News of the demolition of Babri Masjid spread by 14:30 hours on 6 December 1992. Muslims angered by this act felt that Islam was in imminent danger since proponents of the Hindu nation had been allowed to destroy, under the very nose of the police forces, the Babri Masjid, despite assurances and undertakings by the Uttar Pradesh state Government and the Government of India that no harm would be permitted to be caused to the Babri Masjid during kar seva at Ayodhya on 6 December 1992. The extensive media coverage, particularly on television, of footage of file pictures of kar sevaks dancing on the dome of the Masjid, as well as the latest video shots showing actual demolition of the Babri Masjid, caused a sense of deep resentment.
Bombay riots | 6 December 1992
He agreed that the mosque was built on the land considered sacred by the Hindus, but ordered maintenance of status quo, since it was "too late now to remedy the grievance". A subsequent appeal before the Judicial Commissioner W. Young was also dismissed on 1 November 1886. On 27 March 1934, a Hindu–Muslim riot occurred in Ayodhya, triggered by cow slaughter in the nearby Shahjahanpur village. The walls around the Masjid and one of the domes of the Masjid were damaged during the riots. These were reconstructed by the British Indian government.
Babri Masjid | 1880s temple construction attempts
The Babri Masjid (Mosque of Babur) was a mosque in Ayodhya on Ramkot Hill. It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque would not be harmed. More than 2000 people were killed in ensuing riots in many major Indian cities including Mumbai, and Delhi. The mosque was constructed in 1527 by order of Babur, the first Mughal emperor of India. Before the 1940s, the mosque was called "Masjid-i Janmasthan" ("mosque of the birthplace"). Babur's commander-in-chief, Mir Baqi, allegedly destroyed an existing temple at the site which commemorated the birthplace of Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and ruler of Ayodhya.
Liberhan Commission | Dispute
It further said that the sabotage was planned several months in advance by Vishva Hindu Parishad and Shiv Sena, but not jointly.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Conspiracy allegations
Subsequently, the Rajiv Gandhi government ordered the locks on the Babri Masjid gates to be removed. Earlier, the only Hindu ceremony permitted at the site was a Hindu priest performing an annual puja. After the ruling, all Hindus were given access to the site, and the mosque gained some function as a Hindu temple. Communal tension in the region worsened when the VHP received permission to perform a "shilanyas" (stone-laying ceremony) at the disputed site before the national election in November 1989. A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, L K Advani, started a "rath yatra", embarking on a 10,000 km journey starting from the south and heading towards Ayodhya.
Babri Masjid | Demolition
"Daivanamathil" (2005) explores the repercussions of the demolition on Muslims in Kerala. Both "Bombay" and "Daivanamathi" won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration at the respective National Film Awards. The 2007 film "Black Friday" was based upon the 1993 Bombay bombings which were considered to be the after effect of the demolition of the mosque.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | In popular culture
The Supreme Court judgement of 2019 held that there is nothing to prove that the mosque was constructed after destroying a temple and the remains of the structure was used for its construction.
Babur | Babri Masjid
Anju Gupta, a police officer who had been in charge of Advani's security on that day, stated that Advani and Joshi made speeches that contributed to provoking the behaviour of the mob. The report notes that at this time several BJP leaders made "feeble requests to the kar sevaks to come down... either in earnest or for the media's benefit". No appeal was made to the Kar Sevaks not to enter the sanctum sanctorum or not to demolish the structure. It further noted: "This selected act of the leaders itself speaks of the hidden intentions of one and all being to accomplish demolition of the disputed structure." The report holds that the "icons of the movement present [that day]...
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Demolition
Malayalam author N. S. Madhavan's story "Thiruthu" is based on the Babri masjid demolition. The Ayodhya dispute and the riots following the demolition of the Babri Masjid form part of the backdrop to Antara Ganguly's 2016 novel, "Tanya Tania". "Lajja" (Shame), a 1993 novel by Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin, was partially inspired by the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh that intensified after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The documentary "Ram ke Naam" (In the name of Ram) by Anand Patwardhan examines the events preceding the demolition. The Bollywood film "Mausam" is based on the events surrounding the demolition. The events riots that followed the demolition are an important part of the plot of several films, including "Bombay" (1995) set in the Bombay riots.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | In popular culture
The demolition of the Babri Masjid provided enough fuel to excite, ignite and exploit the sentimentalities of the Indian Muslims. Muslims were proselytised by these exploitative elements that the Establishment and the Government had an active hand in the destruction, since it did not do anything to prevent the same. Rumours abounded that alleged members of certain Hindutva parties were seen to be celebrating the demolition of Babri structure. Muslims protested violently on the streets. A large number of Muslims congregated near Minara Masjid in Pydhonie jurisdiction at about 23:20 hours on 6 December 1992 and came out protesting frenziedly in Bombay located in the state of Maharashtra.
Bombay riots | 6 December 1992
According to the report of the UPA instituted Liberhan Commission the Sangh Parivar organised the destruction of the Babri Masjid. The Commission said- "The blame or the credit for the entire temple construction movement at Ayodhya must necessarily be attributed to the Sangh Parivar". It also noted that the Sangh Parivar is an "extensive and widespread organic body", which encompasses organizations, which address and bring together just about every type of social, professional and other demographic grouping of individuals.
Sangh Parivar | Babri Mosque demolition
Francis Buchanan (also called Buchanan-Hamilton) did a survey of the Gorakhpur Division in 1813–14 on behalf of the British East India Company. Buchanan's report, never published but available in the British Library archives, states that the Hindus generally attributed destruction of temples "to the furious zeal of Aurangzabe [Aurangzeb]", but the large mosque at Ayodhya (now known as Babri Masjid) was ascertained to have been built by Babur by "an inscription on its walls". Buchanan had the said inscription in Persian copied by a scribe and translated by a Maulvi friend. The translation however showed "two" inscriptions. The first inscription said that the mosque was constructed by 'Mir Baqi' in the year 935 AH or 923 AH.
Baqi Tashqandi | Babri Masjid inscriptions
Carrying forward their campaign to build a temple at the site, the VHP, the BJP, and their affiliates organised a rally outside the mosque on 6 December 1992, involving 150,000 VHP and BJP volunteers. Several BJP leaders, including Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, spoke at the rally. The crowd gradually grew more restive during the speeches, and began to shout slogans of a militant nature. Although a police cordon had been placed around the mosque in preparation for an attack, a young man slipped past the cordon around noon and climbed the mosque itself, waving a saffron flag.
Ram Rath Yatra | Demolition of the Babri Masjid
On 29 October, the Jamaat-e-Islami-funded newspaper "The Daily Inqilab" ran a top story "Babri mosque destroyed". Tensions began to mount in the country after the publication of the news and spread of the rumour that Babri mosque had been demolished.
1990 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence | Attacks
On 24 September 2013, the mosque was demolished by the city government, due to the lack of legal land ownership held by a shopping mall, as well as an effort to reduce known pickpocketing and violence in the nearby area. In the early weeks, various illegal shopping stalls were also ordered by the city mayor to be disposed due to congesting the city streets and designated parking slots leading up to the area around the Shrine.
Baclaran Mosque | 2013 demolition
However, some historians have argued that it was built during the Delhi Sultanate period (13th–15th century), and may have been renovated during Babur's period. R. Nath has stated that, judging from the architecture of the mosque, it should be taken to have been built in the pre-Mughal period. Apart from Hindus, Jains and Buddhists have also claimed the site. According to Jain Samata Vahini, the mosque was built over a 6th-century Jain temple. Similarly, Udit Raj's Buddha Education Foundation has claimed the mosque was built over a Buddhist shrine.
Babri Masjid | Other theories
In December 2016, SDPI organized nationwide campaign demanding to rebuild Babri Masjid in the same place, which was demolished by the some Hindu activists in December 1992.During this campaign District President of Dakshina Kannada was arrested for allegedly inciting communal hatred by staging a skit.The Protest were held in Tamil Nadu,Delhi and Karnataka.
Social Democratic Party of India | Rebuild Babri Masjid
On the other hand, a government of India white paper dismissed the idea that the demolition was pre-organised. The RSS was banned after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, when the government of the time considered it a threat to the state. The ban was subsequently lifted in 1993 when no evidence of any unlawful activity was found by the tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh | Involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition
According to the 2009 report of the Liberhan Commission, the Sangh Parivar organised the destruction of the Babri Mosque. The Commission said: "The blame or the credit for the entire temple construction movement at Ayodhya must necessarily be attributed to Sangh Parivar." It also noted that the Sangh Parivar is an "extensive and widespread organic body" that encompasses organisations that address and bring together just about every type of social, professional, and other demographic groupings of individuals. The RSS has denied responsibility and questioned the objectivity of the report. Former RSS chief K. S. Sudarshan alleged that the mosque had been demolished by government men as opposed to the Karsevak volunteers.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh | Involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition
On 16 December 1992, the Union home ministry set up the Liberhan Commission to investigate the destruction of the Mosque, headed by retired High Court Judge M. S. Liberhan. After 399 sittings over sixteen years, the Commission submitted its 1,029-page report to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 30 June 2009. According to the report, the events of 6 December 1992, in Ayodhya were "neither spontaneous nor unplanned". In March 2015, the Supreme Court of India admitted a petition alleging that, with a BJP government in power, the CBI would not pursue conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders including L.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Investigation
The destruction of the Babri Mosque sparked Muslim outrage around the country, provoking several months of inter-communal rioting in which Hindus and Muslims attacked one another, burning and looting homes, shops and places of worship. Several of the BJP leaders were taken into custody, and the VHP was briefly banned by the government. Despite this, the ensuing riots spread to cities like Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Delhi, Bhopal and several others, eventually resulting in over 2000 deaths, mainly Muslim. The Mumbai Riots alone, which occurred in December 1992 and January 1993 and which the Shiv Sena played a big part in organising, caused the death of around 900 people, and estimated property damage of around 9,000 crore ($3.6 billion).
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Communal violence
The political, historical and socio-religious debate over the history and location of the Babri Mosque, and whether a previous temple was demolished or modified to create it, is known as the Ayodhya dispute.
Ram Janmabhoomi | Introduction
According to the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Babri Masjid demolition case, just after becoming chief minister, he, with his colleagues, "visited Ayodhya and took a vow to construct Ram temple there itself." In October 1991, his government acquired of land around the "Babri Masjid Complex" under a government notification for the purpose of "promoting tourism". In July 1992, the Sangh Parivar laid the foundation for the proposed Ram temple by digging around the Babri Masjid and filling the area with -thick layer of reinforced cement concrete. Kalyan Singh's government called it a "platform" for performing bhajans while the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) declared it as the foundation for Ram temple.
Kalyan Singh | Role in demolition of Babri Masjid
The temple's demolition was intended as a warning to the anti-Mughal factions and Hindu religious leaders in the city which was prevalent during Aurangzeb’s reign. Maulana Abdus Salam Nomani (d. 1987), an Imam of the Gyanvapi mosque, contests the fact that a temple was destroyed to build the mosque. According to him, the foundation of the mosque was laid by the third Mughal emperor Akbar, and Akbar's grandson and Aurangzeb's father Shah Jahan started a madrasah called Imam-e-Sharifat at the site of the mosque in 1048 hijri (1638-39 CE).
Gyanvapi Mosque | History
It also stated that they could have stopped the demolition if they had so wished.
Ayodhya dispute | Demolition of the Babri Mosque
In the late 1980s, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brought the Ram Janmabhoomi issue to the centrestage of national politics, and the BJP and VHP began organising larger protests in Ayodhya and around the country Members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) demolished the Babri Mosque (which was constructed by Mir Baqi, a general of India's first Mughal Emperor, Babur in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992. The site is the birthplace of the Hindu God Rama . The destruction of the disputed structure, which was widely reported in the international media, unleashed large scale communal violence, the most extensive since the Partition of India.
P. V. Narasimha Rao | Babri Mosque riots
Rithambara was present during the demolition, cheering the crowd whilst standing atop the terrace of the Masjid. Three days after the demolition, she was arrested on grounds of inciting communal tension.
Sadhvi Rithambara | Demolition of Babri Majid
The temple was to be entirely restored by June 2006. On 28 May 2006, Pakistani newspaper "Dawn" reported that the temple was destroyed to pave the way for construction of a multi-storied commercial building. When "Dawn" reporters attempted to take photographs of the alleged site, they were asked to leave by representatives of the developer, who denied claims of a Hindu temple having existed at the site. EPTB officials reportedly concealed the fact that the structure had been a temple from the chairman to obtain his approval to allow the developer to demolish the structure.
Krishna Mandir, Lahore | 2006 reported demolition
Riots in the aftermath of Babri Masjid's demolition extended to Bangladesh, where hundreds of shops, homes and temples of Hindus were destroyed. Widespread retaliatory attacks against scores of Hindu and Jain temples also took place across neighbouring Pakistan, with police not intervening. Reprisal attacks against Hindus in both countries, in turn, entered the discourse of right-wing Hindu nationalists – for example, in 1995, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) appealed to the United Nations to protect Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan and Kashmir. The impact of Babri Masjid's demolition and its repercussions negatively affects relations between India and Pakistan until the present day.
Babri Masjid | Regional impact
The people named in the report included Advani, Vajpayee, Joshi, and Bharathi, as well as then-Uttar Pradesh-chief minister Kalyan Singh. The report stated that Singh had appointed officers to the area who were less likely to act to prevent the demolition. It stated that the leaders of the BJP could have prevented the demolition if they had chosen to do so, and quoted a security official as saying that provocative speeches had been made at the rally. The report also stated that the demolition was "neither spontaneous nor unplanned". In April 2017, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court framed criminal conspiracy charges against Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, and several others.
Ram Rath Yatra | Demolition of the Babri Masjid
In 1853, a group of armed Hindu ascetics belonging to the Nirmohi Akhara occupied the site, and claimed ownership of the structure. Periodic violence erupted in the next two years, and the civil administration had to step in, refusing permission to build a temple or to use it as a place of worship. In 1855, after a Hindu-Muslim clash, a boundary wall was constructed to avoid further disputes. It divided the mosque premises into two courtyards; the Muslims offered prayers in the inner courtyard. The Hindus offered their prayers on a raised platform, known as "Ram Chabutara", in the outer courtyard.
Babri Masjid | 1880s temple construction attempts
The initial destruction of Babri Masjid was planned on 30 October 1990. The karsevaks started to arrive by 25th and pursuant to instructions of Mulayam Yadav, were subject to mass-incarcerations; by 26th, 637 were already arrested and that local prisons were filled up, a girls' intermediate college was transformed to a temporary prison. Securities at the latter facility were minimal and they wandered out to the town, with ease. Schools and colleges chose to announce indefinite closure, in light of the communally polarized environment. Public assemblies were banned soon afterwards.
1990 Bijnor riot | Build up
Several Hindu religious and political organisations have sought to construct a temple on the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, to commemorate Rama. However, the Babri Mosque stood on the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, was constructed by Mughal emperor Babur after he demolished the original Rama temple on the site. The issue was taken up by organisations such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a major Hindu nationalist political party. In 1992, a procession led by the VHP near the mosque ended up demolishing the mosque, which caused major communal violence across India between Hindus and Muslims.
Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas | Ayodhya dispute
Street protests broke out, and protesters threw stones at a Hindu temple and the Indian Consulate in Dubai. In Al-Ain, 250 km east of Abu Dhabi, angry mobs set fire to the girls wing of an Indian school. In response to the violence, UAE police arrested and deported many expatriate Pakistanis and Indians who had participated in the violence. The Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai police force, Dhahi Khalfan, condemned the violence by foreign nationals in his country.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Middle East
A book authored by a former senior Indian intelligence officer revealed that demolition of the historic Babri Mosque at Ayodhya was planned 10 months in advance by Hindu extremist leaders of Rashtriya Sevak Sang (RSS), Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The author, a former Intelligence Bureau Joint Director, Maloy Krishna Dhar in his book "Open Secrets-India's intelligence unveiled" pointed out that the blue print for demolition of the mosque was drawn in a meeting held in February 1992 attended by leaders of the extremist Hindu groups. The leaders agreed to work together.They always maintained that demolition was unprecedented and top leaders had tried to hold back the Karsevaks.
Liberhan Commission | Open secrets
According to "The Economist", "Among its souvenir stalls, those doing the briskest trade are the ones playing videos on a loop of Hindu fundamentalists demolishing the mosque."
Babri Masjid | Aftermath
K. Advani and Rajnath Singh. The Court asked the CBI to explain its delay in filing an appeal. In April 2017, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court framed criminal conspiracy charges against Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, and several others. On 30th September 2020, the court acquitted all the 32 accused including L.K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and several others in the case on account of inconclusive evidence. The special court judge said "“The demolition was not pre-planned.”
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Investigation
The Office of Muslim Affairs and the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila wrote to the government to seek assurances that the mosque would not be affected; the PRA promised that it would not tear down the mosque, and said that a search was underway to identify a suitable relation site for the mosque. On the morning of 7 June, a PRA demolition team and 50 Pasay City police surrounded the site, planning to begin demolition work. Some residents took refuge in the mosque; others went out to confront the demolition team and threw stones at them, leading police to respond by beating them with truncheons; furthermore, some residents set fire to their own homes as the demolitions proceeded.
Baclaran Mosque | 2007 demolitions
The High Court also took into consideration the statement of a Mr. Puri that when he inspected the building after the collapse and examined the mortar, he found that the mortar was reduced to powder without any cementing properties. The Municipal Corporation later allocated 2 lakh in 1957 for rebuilding, however, the structure had come to be known as an English relic, and thus it was never rebuilt.
Ghantaghar | Partial collapse and dismantling
At its summit meeting in Abu Dhabi, the Gulf Cooperation Council strongly condemned the Babri Masjid demolition. It adopted a resolution which described the act as a "crime against Muslim holy places." Among its member states, Saudi Arabia severely condemned the act. The United Arab Emirates, home to large expatriate communities of Indians and Pakistanis, conveyed a more moderate reaction. In response, the Indian government criticised the GCC for what it regarded as interference in its internal affairs. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the demolition, and called upon India to do more to protect its Muslim population. Although its government condemned the events, the UAE experienced severe public disturbances due to the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
Demolition of the Babri Masjid | Middle East
Though the building was never finished which can easily be seen by the carved niches and unfinished architectural pieces found round the base of the temple plinth. During mughal emperor Aurangzeb period (1658A.D.-1707 A.D.) the temple was demolished by him and he made a mosque over the demolished remains of the temple and named it as "Alamgir Mosque" (around 1682 ).Muslims started worshiping the mosque after the construction of mosque for many years. Then later on in 1991 there was a heavy rain in the night in the town ,the rain was so heavy that one of the wall of the mosque fell down due to which so many Hindu idols were exposed which were inside it for more than 300 years and brought the public attention that this is a Hindu temple since there were so many Indian idols were found inside the temple after one of the wall fell down.
Beejamandal | Introduction
Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning "Mosque of Babur") was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 18th century. According to the mosque's inscriptions, it was built in 1528–29 (935 AH) by general Mir Baqi, on the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur. The mosque was attacked and demolished by Hindu Kar Sevaks in 1992, which ignited communal violence across the Indian subcontinent. The mosque was located on a hill known as Ramkot ("Rama's fort").
Babri Masjid | Introduction
In 1883, the Hindus launched an effort to construct a temple on the platform. After Muslim protests, the Deputy Commissioner prohibited any temple construction on 19 January 1885. On 27 January 1885, Raghubar Das, the Hindu mahant (priest) of the Ram Chabutara filed a civil suit before the Faizabad Sub-Judge. In response, the "mutawalli" (Muslim trustee) of the mosque argued that the entire land belonged to the mosque. On 24 December 1885, the Sub Judge Pandit Hari Kishan Singh dismissed the suit. On 18 March 1886, the District Judge F.E.A. Chamier also dismissed an appeal against the lower court judgment.
Babri Masjid | 1880s temple construction attempts
The demolition or burning of Masjid al-Dirar (), or the Mosque of Dissent, is mentioned in the Qur'an. Masjid al-Dirar was a Medinian mosque that was erected close to the Quba' Mosque and which the Islamic Prophet Muhammad initially approved of but subsequently had destroyed while he was returning from the Expedition to Tabouk (which occurred in October 630 CE). In the main account narrated by the majority of scholars, the mosque was built by twelve disaffected men from the Ansar on the commands of Abu 'Amir al-Rahib; a Hanif who refused Muhammad's invitation to Islam and instead fought along with the Meccan non-Muslims against Islam in the Battle of Uhud.
Demolition of Masjid al-Dirar | Introduction
When Muhammad was returning from Tabuk, the Muslims halted at Dhu Awan. Some Muslims constructed the mosque claiming it was for the sick and needy, but because of Muhammad's belief that it was an opposition mosque, he sent Muslim fighters to burn it down. The men entered the mosque and set fire to it with its people inside, "and the people ran away from it".
Demolition of Masjid al-Dirar | Details of the burning
Thus, on Muhammad's return from Tabuk, he sent a party of Muslim fighters to demolish the mosque.
Demolition of Masjid al-Dirar | Accounts
The next few layers date back to the Shunga period (second-first century BCE) and the Kushan period. During the early medieval period (11–12th century CE), a huge but short-lived structure of nearly 50 metres north–south orientation was constructed. On the remains of this structure, another massive structure was constructed: this structure had at least three structural phases and three successive floors attached with it. The report concluded that it was over the top of this construction that the disputed structure was constructed during the early 16th century. Archaeologist KK Muhammed, the only Muslim member in the team of people surveying the excavation, also confirmed individually that there existed a temple like structure before the Babri Masjid was constructed over it.
Babur | Babri Masjid
The cemetery was demolished by forces loyal to the Wahhabi-Saudi alliance in 1806 and 1925 (or 1926). At the beginning of the Wahhabis of Najd's nineteenth century (1806) control over Mecca and Medina, they demolished many of the religious buildings including tombs and mosques, whether inside or outside the Baqi, in accordance with their doctrine. These were razed to the ground and plundered for their decorations and goods.
Al-Baqi' | First demolition
Several Muslims who had sought refuge in the temple complex were also killed. Until 2000, accounts of the demolition of the temple relied largely on the oral testimony of survivors of and witnesses. In 2000, Awami League, the governing political party, opened a public enquiry. In September 2000, the chairman Justice KM Sobhan, presented a preliminary report.
Ramna Kali Mandir | Demolition and genocide by the Pakistan Army
The Mughal capital bore the wrath of the British reaction. Any structure that was used as the mutiny base by the sepoys was destroyed (for more details, see Siege of Delhi). Akbarabadi Masjid was one of the mutiny bases which was demolished by the British forces. Its existence has since been legendary and passed on generation after generation. It is not known where the mosque exactly stood, though many local Muslim residents of Netaji Subhash Park in Old Delhi consider one particular site to be the possible ground where the mosque once stood.
Akbarabadi Mosque | History
A movement was launched in 1984 by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad party to reclaim the Babri mosque site for a Rama temple. In 1992, a right wing Hindu nationalist rally turned into a riot, leading to the demolition of the Babri mosque. A makeshift temple at Ram Janmabhoomi for "Ram Lalla", infant Rama was constructed. Under the Indian government orders, no one was permitted near the site within 200 yards, and the gate was locked to the outside. Hindu pilgrims, however, began entering through a side door to offer worship. In 2003, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) carried out an excavation at the mosque site to determine if it was built over the ruins of a temple.
Ayodhya | Independent India
Thus he ordered his men to burn it down.
Demolition of Masjid al-Dirar | Introduction
The sense of communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims in the post-partition period was compromised greatly by the razing of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. The demolition took place in 1992 and was perpetrated by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and organisations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bajrang Dal, Vishva Hindu Parishad and Shiv Sena. This was followed by tit for tat violence by Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists throughout the country, giving rise to the Bombay riots and the 1993 Bombay bombings.
Islam in India | Muslim–Hindu conflict
Sheikh Faydh Mosque was an ancient Sunni mosque in Mashhad, Iran, one of the main Shi'ite religious places. It was demolished it in 1993, under the supervision of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who also demolished adjoining centers which were used as guest houses and Koran memorization centers. The demolition orders came from Ayatollah Khamenei personally, the present spiritual leader of Iran. The demolition of this mosque occurred immediately after the government sponsored demonstrations against the demolition of the Babri Mosque in India by the Hindus. On 4 February 2001 the imam of the mosque, Mevlavi Musa Karami, was assassinated by an explosion outside a mosque in Herat, some believe by the Iranian government.
Sheikh Fayz Mosque | Introduction
The date of construction of the Babri Masjid is uncertain. The inscriptions on the Babri Masjid premises found in the 20th century state that the mosque was built in 935 AH (1528–29) by Mir Baqi in accordance with the wishes of Babur. However, these inscriptions appear to be of a more recent vintage. There are no records of the mosque from this period. The "Baburnama" (Chronicles of Babur) does not mention either the mosque or the destruction of a temple. The "Ramcharitamanas" of Tulsidas (1574) and "Ain-i Akbari" of Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (1598) made no mention of a mosque either.
Babri Masjid | Construction
Following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, a makeshift temple had been constructed at the Ram Janmabhoomi site, in the city of Ayodhya. According to Hindusium the site was the birthplace of Hindu deity King Rama. On 5 July 2005, the heavily guarded Ram Janmabhoomi - Babri Masjid complex was attacked by heavily armed terrorists. The attack was foiled by security officials and the attackers were killed. The terrorists were from the Islamic terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, and were believed to have entered India through Nepal. They posed as pilgrims on their way to Ayodhya, and boarded a Tata Sumo at Akbarpur near the Kichaucha village in Faizabad.
2005 Ram Janmabhoomi attack | Attack
He made no mention of a mosque. In 1634, Thomas Herbert described a "pretty old castle of Ranichand [Ramachand]" which he described as an antique monument that was "especially memorable". However, by 1672, the appearance of a mosque at the site can be inferred because Lal Das's "Awadh-Vilasa" describes the location of birthplace without mentioning a temple or "castle". In 1717, the Moghul Rajput noble Jai Singh II purchased land surrounding the site and his documents show a mosque. The Jesuit missionary Joseph Tiefenthaler, who visited the site between 1766–1771, wrote that either Aurangazeb (1658–1707) or Babur had demolished the Ramkot fortress, including the house that was considered as the birthplace of Rama by Hindus.
Ram Janmabhoomi | Babri Masjid site
The long simmering Ayodhya crisis finally culminated in a terrorist attack on the site of the 16th century Babri Masjid. The ancient Masjid in Ayodhya was demolished on 5 July 2005. Following the two-hour gunfight between Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists based in Pakistan and Indian police, in which six terrorists were killed, opposition parties called for a nationwide strike with the country's leaders condemning the attack, believed to have been masterminded by Dawood Ibrahim.
Terrorism in India | 2005 Ayodhya attacks
The clan of Saud regained control of the Hijaz in 1924 or 1925. The following year King Ibn Saud granted permission to destroy the site with religious authorization provided by Qadi Abd Allah ibn Bulayhid, and the demolition began on 21 April 1926 (or 1925) by "Ikhwan" ("The Brothers"), a Wahabbi religious militia. The demolition included destroying "even the simplest of the gravestones". British convert Eldon Rutter compared the demolition to an earthquake: "All over the cemetery nothing was to be seen but little indefinite mounds of earth and stones, pieces of timber, iron bars, blocks of stone, and a broken rubble of cement and bricks, strewn about." The second demolition was discussed in "Majles-e Shora-ye Melli" (The National Consultative Assembly of Iran) and a group of representatives was sent to Hijaz to investigate.
Al-Baqi' | Second demolition
The Babri Mosque was one of the largest mosques in Uttar Pradesh, a state in India with some 31 million Muslims. Although there were several older mosques in the city of Ayodhya, an area with a substantial Muslim population, including the Hazrat Bal Mosque constructed by the Shariqi kings, the Babri Mosque became the largest, because of the importance of the disputed site. The political, historical and socio-religious debate over the history and location of the Babri Mosque and whether a previous temple was demolished or modified to create it, is known as the Ayodhya Debate.
Liberhan Commission | Dispute
The remnants of the Hindu temple can be seen on the walls of the Gyanvapi mosque. The mosque is standing on the destroyed original Kashi Vishwanath temple. The original temple had been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. The temple structure that existed prior to the construction of the mosque was built by Raja Man Singh during Akbar's reign. Aurangzeb's demolition of the temple was facilitated , according to the British Gazzette, done when corpse of two Rajput queens was found in the temple basement and the Rana's considered the act as desecration of the holy site. The Brahmins were reluctant to divulge the name of perpetrators so all of them were executed.
Gyanvapi Mosque | History
This activity in the Ayodhya issue involved demonstrations, petitions and litigation, along with militant processions, forceful conversion ceremonies and incidents of violence and vandalism, particularly targeting Muslims. The VHP is also said to have sought the destruction of the Babri mosque. According to the VHP and its affiliated organisations, the Babri Mosque was built by demolishing the temple at the birthplace of Rama (Ram Janmabhoomi) by the Mughal Emperor Babur in the 16th century. It further stated in Allahabad court documentation that the building was in a dilapidated condition. It was in ruins and could not be used for worship or any activities.
Vishva Hindu Parishad | Other activities
In 1990, in the context of the Ayodhya dispute, the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC) cited Nath's "History of Mughal Architecture" to argue that the Islamic Mughal rulers did not destroy a Hindu temple to build the Babri mosque in Ayodhya. When Nath learned about this from an "Indian Express" newspaper report, he clarified that he actually believed that the mosque had been built over a temple. He explained his position in a booklet titled "Architecture & Site of the Baburi Masjid of Ayodhya", stating that a Jami Masjid is always sited in the main bazar of a city where the faithful can congregate conveniently and make purchases in the market afterwards.
Ram Nath | Views
Pant issued orders to remove the idols, but Faizabad's deputy commissioner K. K. Nayar feared that the Hindus would retaliate and pleaded inability to carry out the orders. On 16 January 1950, Gopal Singh Visharad filed a civil suit in the Faizabad Court, asking that Hindus be allowed to worship Rama and Sita at the place. In 1959, the Nirmohi Akhara filed another lawsuit demanding possession of the mosque. On 18 December 1961, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board also filed a lawsuit, demanding possession of the site and removal of idols from the mosque premises.
Babri Masjid | Placement of Hindu idols
Some of the materials used for the original construction may have come from destroyed Hindu and Jain temples. The mosque retained most of the original Hindu and Jain features, especially on the ornate pillars, with only the effigies of Hindu Gods and Goddesses removed neatly.
Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra | Introduction
The temple's demolition was intended as a warning to the anti-Mughal factions and Hindu religious leaders in the city. As described by Jadunath Sarkar, on 9 April 1669, Aurangzeb issued a general order “to demolish all the schools and temples of the infidels and to put down their religious teaching and practices.” His destroying hand now fell on the great shrines that commanded the veneration of the Hindus all over India—such as the second temple of Somnath, the Vishwanath temple of Benares and the Keshav Rai temple of Mathura.
Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques | Kashi Vishwanath Temple
Mandal came to prominence with the publication of his book "Ayodhya: Archaeology after Demolition" in 1994. The book was written in response to two pieces of evidence. In 1990, the archaeologist B. B. Lal had announced that he had discovered pillar bases during his excavation in Ayodhya during 1975-80, next to the Babri Masjid site. This implied that there was another structure, presumably a temple, under the Babri Masjid, and gave rise to considerable consternation among the secularist academic groups. Secondly, after the demolition of Babri Masjid by the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied groups in 1992, a number of figures and artifacts were discovered in the debris, which formed the basis for a booklet by Y.
Dhaneshwar Mandal | Ayodhya dispute
The collapse was due to winter rainwater eroding the central columns supporting the roof. The mosque, which is now around 360 years old, has been facing degrees of wear in other parts as well, including the foundations and the walls. The mosque was never renovated or restored by any designated institutions, including during the colonial era.
El Barani Mosque | History
Thus, at the time of demolition, it was not protected. There were plans to reconstruct the mosque, and the reconstruction project was designed by architect Ilyas Tazhiyev. One of the reasons for reconstruction was that the building deviated by several degrees from the direction to Mecca. The project included disassembling the mosque, collecting all the stones, and re-assembling it again with corrected orientation. In 2009, however, the Council of Muftis dismissed Tazhiyev, first claiming they will make another reconstruction project, and then demolishing the building claiming it was close to collapse. Tazhiyev stated after the demolition that the reconstruction was still possible, and the building was not close to collapse.
Moscow Cathedral Mosque | History
In 1998, Pathak organised a celebration in Varanasi to commemorate the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid. He put up flags as decoration, but the local police had them taken down and destroyed. In response Pathak went to police station and took 50 valium pills in a suicide attempt. Three days later Pathak woke up and found that the in charge police officer Singh had not been fired, so Pathak took 50 more valium pills and threw himself in front of the car of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Pathak survived and a police officer who was responsible along with Singh was fired for misconduct in removing the flags.
Arun Pathak | Babri Masjid demolition celebration
The Babri Masjid was demolished during a political rally which turned into a riot on 6 December 1992. A subsequent land title case was lodged in the Allahabad High Court, the verdict of which was pronounced on 30 September 2010. In the judgment, the three judges of the Allahabad High Court ruled that the of Ayodhya land be divided into three parts, with going to the Ram Lalla or Infant Rama represented by the Hindu Mahasabha, going to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, and the remaining going to Nirmohi Akhara. The judgment affirmed that the disputed land was the birthplace of Rama as per the faith and belief of Hindus, and that the Babri Masjid was built after the demolition of a Hindu temple, noting that it was not built in accordance with the tenets of Islam.
2019 Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya dispute | Allahabad High Court verdict