The decade of 1980s was a very tumultuous period of the recent socio-political history of India. This was the period which in a subtle manner consolidated the ideologically based political divide in the country. With the break up of the Janta party in 1979, its government also fell eventually. The Congress slowly and steadily worked overnight to regain its ground which it had miserably lost in the 1977 elections, held in the aftermath of the Emergency. The midterm elections held in early 1980 were won by the Congress overwhelmingly and both the factions of the Janta Party got reduced to pitiable numbers as compared to the earlier position.
Immediately after the elections in 1980, the whole membership of the erstwhile Bhartiya Jan Sangh (BJS) in the Janta Party decided to form a separate political party based on its own ideological moorings which put an end to the dual membership issue within the Janta Party. Thus Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) came into being in April 1980 with a clear vision as enshrined in the erstwhile BJS manifesto. Right from the very beginning, the BJP developed a vision to evolve itself as a strong alternative to the Congress with emphasis on the ideological issues particularly the cultural nationalism. It gained currency among the people; and a new thinking started gathering mass at a broad-based socio-political platform throughout the length and breadth of the country.
While all this was going on at the political front, there was another thinking simultaneously taking shape in a socio-cultural sphere. This was spearheaded by the top leadership of the RSS and VHP at Nagpur and Delhi. They were seriously going for an action-plan to raise the issues of the three most sacred places of worship for the Hindus, ie Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura. The main purpose was to persuade the Muslim community of India to leave their claim on the three most sacred places of Hindus where medieval foreign Muslim invaders/rulers had razed the Hindu temples to the ground and instead instituted mosques in their place. It was decided in the marathon meetings held one after the other to firstly focus on the Ayodhya issue since in Ayodhya, the disputed Ramjanambhumi structure was a functional temple and what was called the ‘Babri-Masjid’ was actually a non-functional mosque. The Faizabad administration had put a lock on the sanctum-sanctorum of the functional temple where Ramlalla-Virajman was worshipped daily by the designated pujari. RSS handed over the responsibility of the sensitive project to its senior functionary and able organiser, Moropant Pingle.
The VHP decided to organise the “Ekatmata Yatra” in 1983 consequent upon conversion of a large number of Hindus in Meenakshipuram in Tamil Nadu in 1981. The VHP-RSS had organised a huge ‘Virat Hindu Samaj’ (VHS) rally at the Boat Club in New Delhi to raise the issue of conversions in 1981 itself but that experiment of VHS didn’t last long for various reasons. “Ekatmata Yatra” was an All-India Yatra focussed on creating a spirit of unity among the Hindu society; and RSS was the principal guide of the whole project. Immediately on the completion of the Ekatmata Yatra, the organisers brought out another novel idea of “Ram-Janaki Rath Yatra” from Sitamarhi to Ayodhya. Sitamarhi is a town in the Maithili region of East Bihar and is considered as the birthplace of Mata Sita. In 1984, the VHP organised a “Dharma-Sansad” in Delhi and took very important decisive steps; and in the same year, the Rath-Yatra was initiated and hundreds of thousands of people joined the Yatra and made it a resounding success. In all, seven chariots passed through Bihar and Uttar Pradesh depicting Shri Ram behind the bars in Ayodhya. It invariably brought the two issues under the central focus, ie unity among the Hindus and the liberation of Ram Janambhumi in Ayodhya.
These yatras were conducted by the RSS-VHP very diligently and with purpose irrespective of the fact that the political atmosphere in the country was seriously impacted by the death of Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of the country. The Congress went for an early Lok Sabha poll in 1984 and swept the elections benefiting from the sympathy wave consequent upon the murder of Indira Gandhi and thus created a record. The opposition in the country, including the BJP, was decimated numerically but this, however, paved a way for a tactical arrangement by the opposition to appear united against the central government within and outside the Parliament. By now, slowly and steadily, the Ramjanambhumi liberation movement had taken birth and got consolidated under the leadership of Ashok Singhal, senior pracharak of RSS and the Working President of VHP.
The pressure started mounting on the government for allowing “darshan” of Ramlalla in the Ramjanambhumi-Babri Masjid disputed structure in Ayodhya. Since this disputed site had ceased to be a functional mosque for more than a century and was a functional temple, the government was asked to allow the ‘darshan’ of the diety therein. In 1986, the district administration of Faizabad, presumably under instructions from the political leadership in Lukhnow and New Delhi, ordered opening of locks (which were put on in 1949) of the Ramjanambhumi structure. It was the first victory of the movement launched to liberate the Ramjanambhumi (the birthplace of Shri Ram).
This was also the stage when BJP associated itself with the Ramjanambhumi movement openly and asked its cadres to work towards its success. L.K.Advani, the tallest leader of BJP, initially contributed to the movement by adding important intellectual dimensions to it. His contributions made the movement a talking point among the political class of the country. Consequent upon this, many intellectuals joined the debate publicly for and against the movement. At this point of time, the project of “Shila-pujan” was taken into hand by the VHP with the active support of the RSS. After their consecration at the local levels, these Shilas (bricks) were taken to the Ramjanambhumi site in Ayodhya for their use during the construction of the future Ram temple. This took the movement virtually to almost every village, town and city of the country. Lakhs of people associated themselves with the movement and the stage was now set for the final push to the movement that had already taken an all-India shape.
The Bharatiya Janata Party adopted a resolution on Shri Ram Janmabhoomi for the first time in the meeting of its National Executive in Palampur (H.P.) on June 9-11, 1989 under the leadership of Advani. In this resolution, the BJP endorsed the demand for handing over Shri Ram Janmabhoomi to the Hindus for the construction of a Ram Temple there. The resolution also stated that the dispute at Ayodhya should be resolved through mutual dialogue between the two communities or, if this was not possible, through an enabling legislation. It also included the issue in its manifesto for the ensuing election. At this point of time, the VHP chalked out a brilliant plan to have “Shila-Nyas” at the Ramjanambhumi site. It created a very unpalatable situation for the government which had to face elections the same year. Initially, the Government of India and the Government of Uttar Pradesh agreed that the “Shila-Nyas” would be conducted outside the disputed site. However, on 9 November 1989, a group of VHP leaders and Sadhus laid the foundation stone for the temple by digging a 200-litre (7-cubic-foot) pit adjacent to the disputed land under full media and public glaze, with the permission of the authorities.
In the elections to the Lok Sabha in November 1989, the BJP emerged as the third largest political party with 86 seats. The BJP reiterated its commitment to the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya in its subsequent statements, resolutions and public postures. In 1990, the party decided to undertake the “rath yatra” from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya in UP under the leadership of L K Advani. The yatra started from Somnath on September 25, 1990. It got a huge and unprecedented response from the people in all the states wherefrom the yatra passed. However, when the yatra crossed UP and reached Samastipur in Bihar, the Lalu Prasad Yadav government in consultation with the then Prime Minister, V.P.Singh arrested L.K.Advani and put him under house arrest. Thus the Rath Yatra ended in Bihar. This development led BJP to withdraw its support from the V.P.Singh government at the centre and accordingly the government fell. It gave birth to a new socio-political scenario in the country necessitating new strategies for the success of the movement.
The top leadership of the RSS-VHP-BJP combine discussed the issue afresh and made up its mind to take all steps necessary to re-energise the movement for the liberation of the disputed site. An ambitious plan of “Kar-seva” at the Ramjanambhumi was finalised. The Mulayam Singh Yadav government in UP made serious plans to thwart the “Kar-seva” programme. It accordingly decided to ban entry of any Karsevaks to UP from any other state. Ayodhya was made a complete fortress and shoot at sight orders were issued. Inspite of all restrictions, hundreds of Karsevaks from different parts of the country succeeded in reaching Ayodhya and were mercilessly beaten by the armed state police in the lanes, by-lanes and streets of Ayodhya. The official figures suggest that 50 Karsevaks were killed in the police firing while hundreds of them were wounded. The survivors among the wounded confirmed that hundreds of Karsevaks were killed in the police brutalities. Among the killed were the brave two brothers of Kolkata, popularly known as Kothari brothers.
These incidents created new challenges for the Ramjanambhumi movement. It was generally but seriously felt that there was an urgent need to work for change of governments at the Centre and in UP at least. In 1991, the changes took place in a big way during the general elections and the state elections. While Congress emerged as the largest party at the Centre, BJP for the first time became the second largest party. PV Narsimha Rao assumed the Prime Minister’s office and ran the minority government at the centre. In UP, BJP won the elections also for the first time and Kalyan Singh, its leader, assumed the office of the Chief Minister of UP.
The Ramjanambhumi movement brought a great churning in the socio-political scenario of the country; and politicians, media, intellectuals, thinkers, writers and other social activists formally joined debates on the movement for liberation of Ram-Janambhumi. It was during this period that some important politicians and thinkers within the country suggested that the courts of law should be asked to decide the matter of the disputed site in Ayodhya. It had mixed reactions from all concerned. In the meantime, the Ramjanambhumi Nyas urged the government in UP to allow it to hold further Karseva at the disputed site for the construction of the Ram Mandir. The government showed willingness to grant permission but the Muslim side went to the Supreme Court of India with the appeal that the permission for the Karseva should be stopped. On the basis of the affidavit given by the Kalyan Singh government, the Supreme Court gave its go-ahead to the Karseva for performing the necessary ritual on the disputed site of 2.77 acres in Ayodhya. Accordingly, the Karsevaks reached Ayodhya on 6 December, 1992.
When the programme was going as per the laid down schedule in Ayodhya, suddenly some emotionally charged Karsevaks climbed the tomb of the disputed structure. They started pulling the structure down. When the UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was informed about it, he didn’t give permission to shoot the Karsevaks, which he explained later would have enacted one more ‘Jalianwalabag’. Within five hours, the whole structure was razed to the ground by the mob; and taking full responsibility, Kalyan Singh tendered his resignation as the Chief Minister of the State. His resignation was accepted and the Presidential rule was declared in UP. In addition to this, three more BJP State governments in MP, Rajasthan and HP were also dismissed by the Central government. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the tallest leader of the then opposition in the Parliament came forward and took public stage to represent views of BJP on the demolition and boldly explained the position of the Ramjanambhumi movement on the issue.
BJP surely paid a heavy price for the demolition of the disputed structure. Kalyan Singh was held responsible for the dereliction of duties by the apex court but he stood his ground and said that it was not possible for him to give the shoot-out orders on the Karsevaks and would be ready to face the consequences. Accordingly, the Supreme Court awarded him the one-day confinement symbolically, which he underwent with grace and pride.
Again, the RSS-VHP-BJP combine decided to fight the case in the court of law as and when required besides keeping the tempo of the movement aloud. All these developments dragged the whole issue of the Ramjanambhumi movement to the corridors of the court of law for ever for a final decision on the issue. For the next twenty five years, hard battles were fought in the various courts of law, the lower courts, High courts and the Supreme Court. What needs also to be noted here is that over these twenty-five years, the socio-political scenario in the country witnessed a sea change. The BJP emerged as the largest political party in the country and the current dispensation headed by PM Narendra Modi showed great guts to solve the all important pending national issues before the nation, Ramjanambhumi issue included.
In the meantime, the Allahabad High Court in its 2010 judgement divided the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site into three parts, with Sunni Waqf board, Nirmohi Akhara, and Ram Lalla each receiving a third of it. The HC ruled that the central dome of the demolished three-dome structure where the idol of Ram Lalla had been kept in a makeshift temple was the birthplace of Ram. The judgement was not accepted by any side as a genuine judgement and was thus challenged in the Supreme Court of India immediately by all the sides to the dispute.
The apex court stayed the judgement in 2011 and later constituted a five judge bench to hear the case. It gave enough of opportunities to all the three parties to the dispute (Nirmohi Akhara, Ramlalla Virajman and the Sunni Waqf Board) to have negotiations and reach an agreement. However, it didn’t yield the desired results. Therefore, the regular hearings took place and finally the judgement was delivered on 11 November 2019. The apex court in its verdict said that the Allahabad High Court had “completely erred” in its ruling. The Supreme Court awarded the disputed site to Ram Lalla Virajman. The five-judge bench (comprising Justice Ranjan Gogai, Justice D.Y.Chandrachud, Justice Abdul Naszeer, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Sharad Bobde) said that the faith of Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the site was undisputed, and he is symbolically the owner of the land. While the apex court awarded the disputed side to Ram Lalla, it also ruled that the Union government would allot a five-acre plot in a “prominent” location in Ayodhya to build a mosque in place of the one demolished in 1992.
In a separate judgement in 2020, the Special CBI court hearing the case for the demolition of Babri Masjid acquitted all the 32 accused persons, including BJP veterans L.K.Advani, M.M.Joshi, and Uma Bharti. Following the 2019 Supreme Court verdict, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in August 2020. UP Governor Anandiben Patel, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, and Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust head, Nritya Gopal Das shared the dais along with PM Modi during the ceremony.
Now, when the Shri Ram Mandir has come up at the Ramjanambhumi site after a continuous struggle by the Ram-bhakts for almost 500 years, the sacrifices made by the thousands of the countrymen for the cause, it is time to conclude the struggle in an auspicious and graceful manner. Accordingly, the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya is likely to be held on 22 January, 2024 while the rituals for the gala event will start from January 16. The occasion is most suited for the ‘Pran-Pratistha’ (consecration) ceremony of the new idol of Shri Ram in the temple alongwith the Ramlalla Virajman who is already being worshipped since 1949 at the site. The honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the grand temple in the function which will be attended by a large number of who-is-who in the country and the world.
This occasion is a real Diwali for the people of Bharat, whole Hindu society and the people of Indian origin in the world, irrespective of their faith & belief. While we will be celebrating this event on 22nd January 2024 wholeheartedly, we have to bear in mind that Kashi and Mathura also need a plausible solution as soon as possible in order to take India to the next level. The story of Shri Ram has surpassed both -time and space; we call it “Kaal-Jayi” story! Ramayana remains truly eternal…..And then, whatever others say, the name of Shri Ram is in our DNA…..Hindus, Muslims and all in India belong to the same DNA; no force, other than the supernatural one, can bring Shri Ram out of our mind and soul. Our love for Ram and Sita is never-ending one; Yes, that is the fact of our life in Bharat. Jai Shri Ram….!
