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IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE MERCIFUL
*THIS DAY IN HISTORY
*The 06TH of December 1992
*The Destruction of the Babri Mosque
*Elapsed Time: 16 years.
The Babri Masjid (Mosque) is a jewel three-dome mosque structure in Faizabad, Ayodhya , India which was established in 1526 by Sultan Babar or Babur, he is the founder of the Muslim Mughal Empire which ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century.
In constructing the mosque it was alleged that Babur destroyed an existing Hindu temple, which Hindus believe was the temple built to commemorate the birthplace of the so called Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu and ruler of Ayodhya. However, no credible evidence whatsoever of a pre-existing temple has ever been found and there are many other places in Ayodhya where it is claimed that Rama was born, as a result of this Hindu‘s stubbornness, this architectural masterpiece was reduced to rubbles by a large Hindu mob on December 6, 1992.
The Mosque had been used by Muslims as a place of worship for hundreds of years, In 1949, Hindu activists who wished to see it replaced with a Rama temple broke in and placed statues of Rama inside the mosque. Following this, the state government ordered the Mosque sealed, and in 1986 the mosque was reopened by a lower court at the request of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or “World Hindu Council” to allow Hindus to worship there.
In 1990, Lal Krishna Advani, a top member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began a campaign tour (a rathayatra, or “chariot-journey” ) to build support for a Rama temple at the mosque site, speeches by LK Advani inflamed passions further, the VHP also negotiated with the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC), an organisation created to represent the interests of Muslims in the mosque and over the site, with each party presenting evidence of their claims concerning the site to the court.
So all occurred on that sorrowful day of the 06th of December, 1992, as the mosque was destroyed by a large Hindu mob believed to number as many as one million. The mob comprised Militant and fundamentalist activists from the VHP and other associated groups known as “karsevaks”,the destruction occurred at the end of Advani's rathayatra, and there is some evidence that it was well-planned in advance by Hindu nationalist groups.
While the mosque was being destroyed some local Hindus from Ayhodya pleaded with Acharya Dharmendra of the VHP's Marg Darshak Mandal and BJP leader Uma Bharati to stop murderous gangs of “karsevaks” from attacking Muslims in the town and burning and looting their houses and shops. In response, Acharya Dharmendra was quoted in the Times
of India as having said:
“Although the local Hindu residents did ask me to hold the crowds from burning Muslim homes I would have never stopped them. This is the only way in which Ayodhya could become like the Vatican.”
Journalists present were also attacked according to a letter by Time magazine journalists Jefferson Penberthy and Anita Pratap which they sent to the judicial Liberhan commission established in the wake of the violence, even the notorious BBC World Service reported that between nightfall on 6 December and mid-afternoon the following day, “Karsevaks” killed and burned 13 men and children.
Although nearly all Muslims in the area had left their homes before the weekend for safer locations, a few did not flee until hearing the news that the Babri Masjid was being destroyed. It is believed that the murder victims comprised members of Muslim families who did not try to leave until this time.
In the aftermath of the riots both Hindu and Muslim communities hold “outsiders” responsible for the events in Ayodhya, and insisted that they would survive recurring waves of violence by “karsevaks” mobs together. These communities speak of how the Muslims of the town supplied the wood used to build the temples of the Hindus and grew flowers that were to be ornamented in the temples.
Following the destruction of the Babri Mosque, communal riots broke out between Hindus and Muslims across India, including in Mumbai (Bombay), which had formerly been a largely secular and cosmopolitan city, it is generally accepted that the campaign to build the Rama temple and the destruction of the mosque were responsible for the BJP's meteoric rise to power.
Much to the Indian Muslim’s chagrin, still after 16 years after the destruction of the Babri mosque, it remains a central controversy issue in what is believed to be the largest Democracy on earth, although since 1992 India’s courts have refused to permit a temple to be built there, despite pressure from the Sangh Parivar, and the total failure of the Vajpayee government to force this issue has been a major complaint against it.
Nonetheless, on the question whether Babri Masjid stands at the site of the alleged Ram Janam Bhoomi temple, it is to be noted that the renowned Historian and son of former president Sarvepally Radhakrishnan, Prof. S. Gopal, in a lecture delivered in Madras in May 2004 had to say:
“So far no evidence has been found to support the claim the Babri Masjid was constructed on the land that had been earlier occupied by a temple, in Ayodhya today there are still about 30 places where “Rama” was claimed to have been born”.
The lack of true and responsible leadership in India and the inefficiency of any institutional infrastructure within the Indian Muslim community are but adding heavy burdens upon the shoulders of the downtrodden Muslims of India who form the largest Muslim minority in any place of the world with an impressive 152 Million they just make up just over 13% of the country’s total population of more than a Billion, it is absolutely true that only “Awareness breeds Responsibility”.
It is a mixed feeling of nostalgia and vanished pride to note again that after the great architectural legacy “left” in Andalusia , another common heritage of the Ummah is being under hostile hands , the Babri Masjid with its bold and graceful style was universally praised and widely followed ,today only photographs remind us of its past glory and splendour.
In demonstrating the grandeur and refinement of such legacy, it was reported by Graham Pickford architect to Lord William Bentinck (1828-1833):
“A whisper from the Babri Masjid Mihrab could be heard clearly at the other end 200 feet ( 60 m ) away and through the length and breadth of the central court”.
The Mosque's acoustics were mentioned by him in his book “Historic Structures of Oudhe” he says “for a 16th century building the deployment and projection of voice from the pulpit is considerably advanced, the unique deployment of sound in this structure will astonish the visitor”.
Adding to the cultural thirst and curiosity of this gem is the Babri Mosque’s miraculous well; the reported medicinal properties of the deep well in the central courtyard have been duly featured in various news reports such as the BBC report of December 1989
and in various newspapers.
The earliest mention of the Babri water well was in a two line reference to the Mosque in the Gazette of Faizabad District 1918 which says “There are no significant historical buildings here, except for various Buddhist shrines, the Babri Mosque is an ancient structure with a well which both the Hindus and Muslims claim had Miraculous properties.”
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مركز رفع الملفات
This Day in History-the Destruction of the Babri Mosque
العرض العادي
