Ram Janambhoomi - Start to End

Ram Janma Bhoomi is the birthplace of Lord Rama, the 7th avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. It is situated on the banks of the river Sarayu in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state of India. According to the history, Mughal Emperor Babar demolished an old temple at Ram Janmabhoomi and built a mosque in its place. The mosque was named as ‘Babri Masjid’ after the name of Babar. This Babri Masjid became a spot of dispute between Hindus and Muslims. The political, historical and social-religious debate over whether a temple was demolished to create mosque , has become an hot issue as ‘Ayodhya Dispute’.

The dispute started in 1855 between Hindus and Muslims over the possession of the Babri Masjid. The British administration in 1859 constructed railways to split the place of worship. Inner area was allowed for Muslims and outer for Hindus to worship. It continued for about 90 years. In 1949, suddenly an idol of lord Rama appeared inside the mosque. Hindus claimed it as divine miracle but the Muslims disagreed and protested against it. Both the groups filed civil suits and the Indian Government ultimately declared the area as disputed one and shutted it down.

VISHWA HINDU PARISHAD( VHP ) under the leadership of Bhartiya Janta Party member Lal Krishan Advani formed a committee for construction of a temple at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi. Subsequently, a district court ordered that the site be opened for Hindus for worship. In protest of this order, Muslims formed a committee called ‘BABRI MOSQUE ACTION COMMITTEE’. In 1989, Vishwa Hindu Parishad laid foundation stone for construction of the Ram temple on the area next to the disputed area and also filed a case for shifting of the mosque elsewhere. The volunteers of VHP partially damaged the mosque. In 1991, the Bhartiya Janta Party came to power in the state. The volunteers of BJP along with supporters of VHP and Shiv Sena demolished the mosque.This created a nationwide dispute between Hindus and Muslims resulting in the killing of about more than 2000 people.

In 2002, the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee formed ‘Ayodhya Cell’ under Shatrughna Singh for peaceful solution between the two communities. During the same time, high court ordered archaeologists to survey whether any temple ever existed on the site. The archeologists concluded that there were evidences of being a temple under the mosque. The Allahabad High Court comprising of a bench of three judges announced that the site should be split into three parts. One part be allotted to Ram Lalla Virajman for RamLala Idol, the second part to Nirmohi Akhara for Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutra and the rest be given to Sunni Wakf Board. But the decision was challenged in the supreme court which commented that none of the parties demanded the split of the area.

In 2014, Bhartiya Janta Party came to power in the centre under the leadership of Narendra Modi. The Modi government accepted the proposal for construction of the Ram temple but the state government under Akhilesh Yadav did not co-operated and declined for the construction. Presently, BJP is in power both in the centre and the state. But the supreme court on 29th of April 2017, has ordered for the prosecution of prominent leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi, Uma Bharti and others accused for criminal conspiracy. The court has ordered the two cases of demolition and criminal conspiracy to be combined and the verdict to be delivered in two years. Meanwhile the BJP leaders have been granted bail by a special CBI court and announced that charges would be framed against them.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Aditya Nath visited Ayodhya on the next day of the court order. It was his scheduled visit. His visit was not to boost the morale of L K advani and other BJP leaders facing the Babri Conspiracy trial. The visit was a calculated move to bring the Ram temple issue to the national centre stage which has faded out due to unending litigation in the apex court.

In fact, Ram Janmabhoomi is not a mandir-masjid issue. A mandir cannot be demolished to build a mosque and a mosque cannot be demolished to build a mandir. Both are against Indian culture. A temple can be built anywhere but a Janmabhoomi cannot be changed especially when it is the birthplace of the avatar of Vishnu. Hindus and Muslims have to live together in India. The country belongs to both of them. There is the need of mutual regard and willingness to sacrifice. General suggestion is not that the Babri Masjid be respectfully shifted from its present site and rebuilt elsewhere to facilitate the revival of Ram Janmabhoomi as a place of worship of Lord Rama. The temple will be a symbol of understanding between the two dominant religious communities of India.