Hindu Rashtra rises from the ruins of Babri Masjid

Dates and events stand as crucial milestones in a nation’s history. They shape the trajectory of its journey, influencing the destiny of its citizens and, at times, triggering repercussions beyond its borders. India’s rich and chequered history is punctuated with such pivotal moments.

In the modern era, one such date etched in the annals is 15th August 1947. At the stroke of midnight, India celebrated its hard-fought freedom from British colonialism. However, this victory was not without complexities, as it entailed ceding territories to meet the demands of certain Muslims led by the Muslim League. Interestingly, the Muslim League took on the role of the sole Muslim representative in negotiations, a matter to be explored another time.

The genesis of India’s national movement for freedom is often traced back to 1857. This marked the overthrow of the nominal last Mughal emperor, under whose leadership Indians from diverse backgrounds revolted against British colonial rule. The struggle against colonialism involved individuals of various faiths, regions, and political ideologies. While some advocated more extreme measures, the majority pursued a moderate path. In the early 20th century, amidst global political upheavals, certain Indian factions, inspired by Mussolini and Hitler, launched Hindu nationalist organizations. However, the enduring appeal of Gandhian philosophy, emphasizing non-violence, satyagraha, and inclusivity, ultimately steered the freedom movement to success.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates, despite never fully embracing the current idea of India, kept the dream of a Hindu Rashtra alive through political and social endeavours. Their political ideologue, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, laid the theoretical foundations for the ‘two-nation theory,’ justifying the Muslim League’s demand for a separate Pakistan in 1940.

Another milestone in India’s nascent history unfolded on 26th January 1950, when it adopted a progressive Constitution, discarding the Government of India Act (1935) as governing document. This marked the birth of a sovereign democratic republic, a bold departure from the past. The Constitution, crafted under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, provided a foundation for a new nation-state, especially considering the backdrop of the creation of Pakistan based on religious lines. As Nehru had earlier said, “moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance”.

The intervening night of December 22-23, 1949, was no ordinary night as this changed the course of India which was soon going to adopt a more progressive Constitution based on universal values of equality, fraternity, and secularism; though, secularism doesn’t appear expressly in the Preamble (of the constitution) till 1976. On the night of December 22-23, 1949, far from the hustle and bustle of Delhi, where the members of the newly formed constituent assembly were busy giving the final shape to the constitution, in a sleepy town of Ayodhya an idol of Ram was surreptitiously placed in a Mosque, under its central dome, which was little known beyond the immediate vicinity of Ayodhya, called The Babri Masjid. This seemingly insignificant incident gained significance later as it set the stage for future tensions and conflicts. The subsequent events, including the sealing and reopening of the mosque, and its eventual demolition in 1992, shaped the socio-political landscape of the country. Interestingly, the magistrate, K.K.Nayar, who locked the gate of the Babri Masjid later contested elections on Jan Sangh ticket- a RSS political body.

On a fateful day of 23rd April 1985, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment in the case, referred to as the Shah Bano case favouring her right to demand maintenance from her husband after divorce as she couldn’t sustain herself on her own, under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This seemingly ordinary case, however, triggered a profound debate on the clash between civil and personal laws, highlighting the struggle of a republic to balance individual rights with universal principles. Little known to the justices of the Supreme Court of India delivering judgment favouring the right of women though opposed to the Personal laws would later pave the way for another queer and regressive law by the parliament triggering an irreversible communal and majoritarian political march in response to the law passed by the Parliament to null the effect of the Supreme Court’s judgment favouring Muslim women like Shah Beno.

The Indian parliament succumbed to the pressure, of Indian Muslim conservative forces who demanded personal law must be upheld, by enacting The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act on 19th May 1986. This law effectively made the earlier Supreme Court judgment null and void. It has been argued by many that the passing of this bill gave Hindu communal forces to mobilize and rally people around its agenda which later bloomed into full majoritarian and Hindu-first politics. So much so that now no political parties in today’s India can openly talk about minorities, especially Muslims and Christians. RSS and its cohorts mainly Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), VHP, and Bajran Dal likened this to the “appeasement” of Muslims at the expense of Hindus, though this wasn’t the case in any way. But the mere thought of having a bill legislated in the parliament to remove the ambiguity in the Muslim Personal law was sold to the gullible as the government bent backward to adjust the demands of the Muslims. RSS and its et la have long campaigned against imagined “appeasement” of Muslims. They alleged Hindus aren’t given their due whereas whims and fancies of Muslims are being obliged, hence current political structure and system is anti-Hindu.

1st February 1986 listening to a petition by a third party Faizabad session court unlocked the inner gates of Babri masjid arguing the locking of the gate was done by the then Faizabad administration not by the competent court. Many believe that the unlocking of Babri Masjid’s gate and the passing of the Muslim Women Protection Bill by the parliament was a balancing act by the then Rajiv Gandhi’s government to appease conservatives of both Muslims and Hindus. Though, Rajiv Gandhi denied this and blamed this act on Veer Bahadur Singh (then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh), ML Fotedar and, Arun Nehru, who later went on to join BJP.

The opening of the inner gates of Babri Masjid gave a new lease of life to the recently formed Ram Janambhoomi Movement by VHP and helmed by veteran BJP leader LK Advani. His party having lost the 1984 election heavily was looking for a cause to revive the party’s future. He couldn’t have wished for a better opportunity than this to trumpet his triumphs to salvage his party’s fledging political fortune. VHP, supervised and managed by RSS, organized events across mainly north India to galvanize support to build the Ram temple i.e. organizing kar-seva, and donation of bricks such antics and strategy kept the issue of Ram Janambhoomi alive and incessantly committed not to accept the court’s verdict as this was a matter of faith (Ashtaa). Numerous attempts to resolve this matter were futile from both sides- Hindus and Muslims.

9th November 1989 Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi allowed the VHP to perform Shilanayas (laying the foundation stone) near the disputed area which not only fundamentally changed the nature of Babri Masjid which had long ceased to be a place of worship for Muslims but on the other hand Hindus had access to the first courtyard of the masjid and later with the opening of the inner gates Hindus installed a Ram idol and were performing pujas daily.

August 7th, 1990 was another historic day in the history of the Indian republic, which was getting communalized with every passing day, then Prime Minister of India V.P. Singh whose government was supported by both left parties like the Communist Party on one side and the other side was BJP who espoused right-wing ideology, decided to implement the recommendations of Mandal Commission.

It is said, that to keep Hindutva politics alive, Lal Krishna Advani launched on 25th September 1990 a rath yatra in a modified air-conditioned DCM Toyota truck from Somnath (Gujrat) to Ayodhya to incite support for Ram Janmabhoomi crisscrossing entire of north India leaving trails of bloodshed in the numerous communal violence which was finally stopped by then Bihar’s Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav a powerful OBC leader committed to communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims.  By then Advani’s rath yatra, though, succeeded in creating frenzy and passion among the minds of common Hindus and hordes of kar-sevaks started arriving in Ayodhya. Along with Advani VHP deployed rabble-rousers like Sadhvi Rithambra, Uma Bharti, Ashok Singhal, and others to keep the pot of Ram Janmabhoomi issue boiling.

Finally, on the wintery cold morning of 6^th December 1992 a frenzied crowd camping in Ayodhya for some time, brought there by VHP, Bajrang Dal, and others, razed the Babri Masjid despite the assurance given by then Chief Minister of UP to the Supreme Court of India of maintaining status-quo. Some claimed part of the kar-sevaks had undergone training and came up with the plan to demolish Babri Masjid on this day. Excited kar-sevaks on one earlier occasion had damaged the structure of Babri Masjid. Leaders from BJP, VHP, and RSS addressed the gathered kar-sevaks who have come from all over India. In one such speech given in Lucknow, BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee talked about “sharp-edged boulders” and the need to “level the ground” stood out and was greeted with cheers from the crowd. Many in the crowd and those listening to him in Ayodhya interpreted and understood the meaning of those words, though AB Vajpayee denied this.

On 9^th November 2019 the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment of the title of Ayodhya land (of erstwhile Babri Masjid) to the Hindu side and asked the government to set up a trust to construct Ram temple and gave 5 acres of land to Muslims for the construction of mosque instead of now demolished Babri Masjid. This judgment was roundly criticized by jurists, intellectuals, and common people alike for employing judicial creativity to come to this decision. This is a queer judgment as the judges of the bench did accept that “ The destruction of the mosque took place in breach of the order of status quo and an assurance given to this Court. The destruction of the mosque and the obliteration of the Islamic structure was an egregious violation of the rule of law”, yet the learned judges handed over the title of the land to the same set of people who committed this crime. This landmark judgment doesn’t mention its author against the normal practices where judgment from the Supreme Court has the name/s of the judges who write the judgment.  As Professor Apoorvanand in his article summarised – “…Or did our judges know what they are doing was justifying and rewarding an unjust act and didn’t want to take credit for that?” One can hardly be oblivious to the incompetency or collusion of the investigation agencies for not bringing any perpetrator of this egregious crime to justice.

Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra has invited many including, PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate the Ram Mandir and participate in the event of Pran Pratishtha- a ceremony to install the idol of a deity at a sacred place. The whole Ram Mandir consecration ceremony is, besides, a religious event, a political charade by the BJP and its originator RSS. However, indeed Ram Mandir wouldn’t existed if the BJP hadn’t made it a political issue. Thus, it would be sheer naivety to expect from BJP and RSS along with its numerous cohorts not to make it a political event. RSS never made a secret of its desire and ambition to make India a Hindu Rashtra. RSS through its earlier political wing Jana Sangh and later through BJP had always been consistent in its overt or covert demand for Hindu Rashtra on the lines of the two-nation theory (implying Hindus and others are two different nations) which led to the creation of Pakistan. It is another thing that in less than a quarter of a century Pakistan was torn apart into two. Thus, Bangladesh came into existence. Despite the obvious flaw of the two-nation theory Hindutva forces have largely succeeded in mobilizing support and public opinion towards a Hindu-first country- one definite step towards Hindu Rashtra. Credit must be given to Hindutva votaries for convincing a major section of India’s population, intellectuals, and even political opponents that state, nation, and religion are all one and only one. This was the exact fear India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru expressed “Communalism of the majority is far more dangerous than the communalism of the minority.” He reasoned that such communalism “wears the garb of nationalism.” “We have thus communalism ingrained in us and it comes out quickly at the slightest provocation and even decent people begin to behave like barbarians when this communalism is aroused in them.”

Sangh Parivar’s strategies and groundwork of almost a century now seem to have fructified in the form of a majoritarian state and Hindu-first policies pivoted on Muslim hate and otherization. Sangh Parivar and its numerous off-shoots have built their case solely on the hate towards Muslims and hold today’s ordinary Muslims responsible for its lists of past wrongs committed by namesake Muslim rulers. Getting Ram Mandir by demolishing the Babri Masjid which allegedly existed at the precise site as demanded by Hindutva forces is infinitely more gratifying as they can, at least, set one wrong right in the creation of a Hindu nation.

India seems to have completed the full circle of its post-independence history of being a liberal, inclusive, and federal republic and now steadily gravitating towards an ethno-religious state. This transformation finds its roots in the local but volatile issue of Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi, cleverly orchestrated into a national sentiment demanding rectification.