The united effort of the Hindu Samaj for the success of Ayodhya Sri Ram Temple, a timeline of struggle and sacrifice.

Ayodhya Timeline: The long road from Babri Masjid to Ram Temple via Hindu movements and legal battles fought over the centuries.

.Upendra Bharti | HENB | Lucknow | Jan 21, 2024::  The Babri Masjid was constructed in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya by Babur’s commander Mir Baqi in 1528-29 on the orders of the Mughal emperor. The mosque was built on top of a hill called Ramkot. The Hindu community alleged that the mosque was built by the Mughals after destroying a structure marking the birthplace of Lord Ram. This marked the beginning of a struggle that saw bloodshed, political manoeuvres and a fight for faith, which eventually received the stamp of the Supreme Court.

The legal battle for the claim to the Ram Janmabhoomi began even before India attained independence from British colonial rule. Here’s a brief history of the case in court:

The success story of Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Temple is not of any singular organisation, party or person. The united effort of the Hindu Samaj has got the success by the blessings of the Spiritual Heads along with the capable leadership of many  political personalities from Hindu Mahasabha, Congress, Shiv Sena and BJP . The sacrifice of thousands of Hindu Saints, Nihang Sikhs, Dharma Yoddhas and Karsevaks in the battle of Ram Janmabhoomi liberation are marked in golden letters in this great Hindu Success to wards a Ram Rajya, in other words, the Hindu Rashtra as envisioned by the Hindutva seers and ideologues.

1885: Mahant Raghubar Das seeks permission to build a Ram temple on land adjoining the Babri mosque. The Faizabad district magistrate (DM) refuses to permit him. After his suit was rejected, Das moved the Faizabad court seeking permission to build a temple on the courtyard of the Babri mosque. The court rejects this plea too.

1949: An idol of lord Ram appears inside the Babri Mosque on the night of December 22-23. Hindus see this as a divine revelation and start offering prayers. However, many contest this claim, saying that the idol was brought in inside at night. The government locks the entrance and declares the site a “contested area”.

Before that, on August 14, 1949, just two years after Independence and months before the Ram Lalla idol was placed in the Babri Masjid, the United Provinces Hindu Mahasabha passed a resolution in favour of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.

From October 20, 1949,  a nine-day akhand path (continuous recitation) of the Tulsidas Ramcharitamanas in Ayodhya was conducted by a body called the All-India Ramayana Mahasabha. Gopal Singh Visharad, the president of the Ayodhya Hindu Mahasabha, was the joint secretary of the Ramayana Mahasabha. Mahant Digvijayanath of Gorakhpur, a Hindu Mahasabha stalwart, local Congress MLA Baba Raghav Das, and Swami Karpatriji Maharaj of the Ram Rajya Parishad were on stage on the concluding day of the recitation

1950: Gopal Singh Viharad and Paramhansa Ramachandra Das file two separate suits in Faizabad court seeking permission to conduct rituals and pray to Ram Lalla. The court grants the parties permission to conduct pujas, but with a caution that the inner courtyard should remain locked.

1959: Nirmohi Akhara (from the Hindu side) files a suit seeking possession of the land.

1961: The UP Sunni Waqf Board (from the Muslim side) files a suit seeking possession of the Babri Masjid site and demands the removal of Lord Ram’s Idols from the premises.

1976-77: The first excavation of Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi Site conducted under former ASI director BB Lal stopped by then PM Indira Gandhi as huge evidences ere coming out as a preexisted Hindu temple around/under/near Babri structure.

1984: The Ram Janmabhoomi movement begins. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) kickstarts the movement. Vinay Katiyar forms the Bajrang Dal to push forward the movement to build a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

On April 7 and 8, 1984 a meeting of the Dharma Sansad of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an RSS-affiliate, was held at the Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.

At this meeting, the organisation saw the announcement about launching a movement for the “liberation” of the Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya, the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi at Mathura and the Vishwanath shrine at Varanasi.

In Ayodhya, on 30.01.1984 Dharmacharyas led by Mahant Paramhans Ramchandra Das, other Sanyasins of Ramanand sect and Nirmonhi Akhara launched a secret wing to destroy Babri structure on any suitable opportunity taking active volunteers from Hindu Mahasabha, Shiva Sena and some Hindutva leaders from BJP also. Paramhans Ramchandra Das conveyed the blessings of Deoraha Baba in that meeting and opined that the existence of Babri structure would the most hurdles to build a Ram Temple in the very site of Ram Janmabhoomi.

1986: A lawyer named UC Pandey appeals in the Faizabad Sessions Court to get orders to open gates of the inner courtyard of the Babri mosque, saying that the Faizabad district administration, and not a court, had ordered the closure. On Feb 1, a district judge orders the gates to be opened and allows the Hindu side to do “pooja and darshan”.

1989: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi allows the VHP to perform Shilanayas (laying of foundation stone) near the disputed site.

Following this, all title suits are shifted to the Allahabad High Court. At this point, another suit is filed in the name of Ram Lalla Virajman in the High Court. The previous litigants from both Hindu and Muslim sites Nirmohi Akhara (1959) and Sunni Waqf Board (1961) are named as defendants.

In 1989 BJP’s Palampur Conclave, finally the party decided to throw in its lot with the Ram temple movement – and bury Vajpayee’s thrust on Gandhian socialism for good – when the party under L K Advani passed the Palampur resolution in favour of  Ram Temple.

1990: On September 25, a Rath Yatra is launched by then BJP president LK Advani from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya in UP to gather support. Communal riots break out. Advani is arrested in Bihar’s Samastipur after a little over a month of the yatra and detained for 5 weeks.

On Oct 30 and 1-2 Nov, 1990 hundreds of Karsevaks gunned down in Ayodhya by Mulayam Singh Yadav govt when they went there for Karseva and Darshan of Ram Lalla in Babri structure.

 1992: On December 6, the Babri Masjid is demolished by a section of violent karsevaks. Millions of Hindus took part in the Karseva. But a dedicated team (formed secretly in 1984) of karsevak (17 groups of 250 each) demolished the disputed structure within few hours. They leave behind a makeshift temple in its place.

Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao constitutes the Liberhan Commission, a committee led by retired High Court Justice M S Liberhan, to look into events that led to the demolition of the mosque and the communal riots.

1993: The Narasimha Rao government acquires 67.7 acres of land (the mosque site and adjoining areas) by passing the Acquisition of Certain Areas at Ayodhya Act, 1993.

1994: The Supreme Court, by a majority of 3:2, upholds the constitutionality of the Act in the Ismail Faruqui judgment.

The majority judgment by former CJI JS Verma rules that every religious immovable property is liable to be acquired. It also rules that offering namaz at the mosque is not integral to Islam unless that mosque has any particular significance in the religion.

2002: The Allahabad High Court begins hearing the Ayodhya Title Dispute.

2003: The Archaeological Survey of India claims to have found remnants of a 10th-century Hindu temple at the site. As per the directions of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey was conducted. The excavation was carried out under the supervision of archaeologists Hari Manjhi and BR Mani. In thissecond excavation, more than 50 pillar bases in 17 rows were exposed. That proved that the structure was imposing and large. The structure discovered was a temple below the Babri Mosque and dated back to the 12th century AD. The ASI team got many evidences of a Hindu temple under Babri structure.

2009: Liberhan Commission submits report to PM Manmohan Singh’s office. However, the report is not made public.

2010: Allahabad HC passes judgment splitting the land between three parties — one-third for the Sunni Waqf Board, one-third for the Nirmohi Akhara, and one-third for the Hindu Mahasabha on behalf of Ram Lalla Virajman. The dome, under which the makeshift temple stood is given to the Hindus. The nearby Ram Chabutra and Sita Rasoi were given to the Nirmohi Akhara.

2011: Supreme Court stays Allahabad High Court judgment, calling it “strange”, and asking how could partition be done when none of the parties prayed for it.

2017: Then Chief Justice JS Khehar suggests an out-of-court settlement.

In August, a three-judge bench of the SC comprising CJI Dipak Misra, Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer JJ begins hearing the appeal.

2018: The petitioners plead that the Ismail Faruqui judgment of 1994 be referred to a seven-judge bench for reconsideration. In a split verdict (2:1), the SC refuses to form a larger bench.

On October 21, Lakhs of Karsevaks reached Ayodhya under the leadership of Dr Pravin Togadia to perform ‘symbolic Kraseva’ with a demand to pass a bill in parliament to build Ram Temple at Janmabhoomi to get rid of judicial fuss. On Oct 23, The UP Police of Yogi Adityanath dispersing the Karsevaks with lathi-charge disallowing any Karseva.

2019: In January, CJI Ranjan Gogoi, using his administrative power, overturns the September 2018 judgment and forms a five-judge bench.

In March, the Supreme Court orders a court-monitored mediation for eight weeks which failed for many reasons.

In August, the top court begins to hear the final arguments. The Hindu Mahasabha and the representative of Dwaraka Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopananda, Swami Avimukteshwarananda were also the parties in the contentious cases on records.  Dr Subramanian Swamy argued in the court for day to day hearing to expedite the case with his demand of ‘right to worship in Ram Janmabhoomi’ according to Hindu faith.

On November 9, the Supreme Court delivers its verdict. The apex court awards the title to the deity, Shri Ram Lalla Virajman, and orders the government to grant the Sunni Waqf Board an alternate site in Ayodhya to construct a mosque.

2020: on August 5, PM Narendra Modi took part in Ayodhya Ram Temple Bhoomipujan in the presence of Dr Mohan Bhagwat, the  Sarsanghachalak (President) of RSS, UP CM Yogi Adityanatha, hundreds of saints and monks of different sects and orders. The Temple constructions and management charges have been conferred to an NGO named Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Khestra Trust according to court order.

2024: On January 22, the Pranapratishta Karyakram of Newly built Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Temple going to be happened.   PM Modi will be chief guest in the programme. About 6000 Monks, Saints, and dignitaries of sphere have been invited by the  Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Khestra so far amidst a row on the ‘controversial’ Pranapratishta in an incomplete temple as objected by some Shankaracharys.

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Sources:Agencies | Business Standard | Lallantop.