Babri
Mosque Demolition Exposed the Myth of India’s Secularism By
Sajjad Shaukat (JR94SS05)
26 years ago,
Indian Constitution which claims India to be a secular state was torn into
pieces when on December 6, 1992, a large crowd of Hindu Karsevaks (Volunteers)
entirely demolished the 16th-century Babri Masjid (Mosque) in Ayodhya, Utter
Pradesh in a preplanned attempt to reclaim the land known as RAM Janmabhoomi–birthplace
of the god.
The demolition
of the Babri Masjid sparked Muslim outrage around the country, provoking
several months of inter-communal rioting between Hindu and Muslim communities,
causing the death of at least 2,000 people, majority of whom were Muslims. The
governments of several neighboring countries including those of the Islamic
World condemned the Indian government for failing to stop the destruction of
the historical mosque.
In a 2005 book,
India’s former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Maloy Krishna Dhar wrote
that Babri mosque demolition was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP BJP/Sangh Parivar, VHP, Shiv Sena, the
Bajrang Dal and the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Raow. Dhar elaborated,
“He had drawn up the blueprint of the Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) assault at
Ayodhya in December 1992.”
However, on
December 6, 1992, the RSS and its affiliates organized a rally involving
150,000 VHP and BJP Karsevaks at the site of the mosque. The ceremonies
included speeches by BJP leaders such as L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and
Uma Bharti. During the first few hours of the rally, the crowd began raising
militant slogans. A police cordon had been placed around the mosque in
preparation for attack. Nevertheless, around noon, a young man managed to slip
past the cordon and climb the mosque itself, brandishing a saffron flag. This
was seen as a signal by the mob, who then stormed the structure. The police
cordon, vastly outnumbered, fled. The mob set upon the building with axes,
hammers, and grappling hooks, and within a few hours, the entire mosque was
leveled. Hindu fanatics also destroyed numerous other mosques within the town.
A
2009 report of the inquiry commission, authored by Justice Manmohan Singh
Liberhan, found 68 people to be responsible for the destruction of the Babri
Masjid, mostly leaders from the BJP. Among those named were Vajpayee, Advani,
Joshi, Vijay Raje Scindia and Kalyan Singh who was then the Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh. Liberhan wrote that he posted bureaucrats and police officers to
Ayodhya, whose record indicated that they would stay silent during the mosque’s
demolition. Anju Gupta, a police officer who had been in charge of Advani’s
security on that day, stated that Advani and Joshi made speeches that
contributed to provoking the behavior of the mob to accomplish demolition of
the mosque. However, the commission clearly identified BJP, RSS and VHP as the
organizations responsible for the incident and also nominated L.K. Advani, Lalu
Parsad Yadev and Murli Manohar Joshi as main culprits behind this incident. But
no action was taken against them.
By showing
prejudice in favour of Hindus, on September 30, 2010, the Allahabad High Court
ruled that the 2,400 square feet (220 m2) disputed plot of land, on which the
Babri Masjid had stood would be divided into three parts. The site at which the
idol of Rama had been placed was granted to Hindus in general, the Sunni Wakf
Board got one third of the plot, and the Hindu sect Nirmohi Akhara got the
remaining third. The excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India were
heavily used as evidence by the court to support its so-called finding that the
original structure at the site was a massive Hindu religious building.
Since the leader
of the ruling party BJP Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India, various
developments like unprecedented rise of Hindu extremism, persecution of minorities,
forced conversions of other religious minorities into Hindus, ban on beef and
cow slaughter, inclusion of Hindu religious books in curriculum, creation of
war-like situation with Pakistan etc. clearly show that encouraged by the
fundamentalist rulers, Hindu extremist outfits such as BJP, RSS VHP, Bajrang
Dal and Shiv Sena including other similar parties have been promoting religious
and ethnic chauvinism in India by propagating ideology of Hindutva.
In fact, on the
basis of anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan slogans, BJP got a land sliding victory
in the Indian elections 2014. Hence, Prime Minister Modi is giving impetus to
Hindu chauvinism against Pakistan and the Muslims, as under his directions, New
Delhi accelerated unprovoked firing at the Line of Control in Kashmir and
Working Boundary across Pak-Indian border, even without bothering for nuclear
war.
Particularly, in
the recent past, extremists of Hiudu fundamentalist outfits intensified
assaults on the Muslims, Christians, and Pakistani artists, famous literary
persons—members of the cricket boards etc., and even on Hindus of lower
classes, including moderate Hindus.
More than 200
Indian writers, Authors, scientists, artists, filmmakers, film-stars etc. had
decided returned their national awards in protest to rising Hindu extremism
under Modi rule, while more than 100 persons have returned their rewards. Former
Indian military personnel had also started returning their medals, criticizing
the policies of the BJP government, embroiling Prime Modi in a new domestic
crisis.
Modi’s
anti-Pakistan policies have also external aspects. In this regard, while
addressing a ceremony during his Bangladesh tour, Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi openly stated on June 7, 2015 that Indian forces helped Mukti Bahini
(Militants) to turn East Pakistan into Bangladesh. He elaborated that former
prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had played an active role in separating
Bangladesh from Pakistan, and he had also come to Delhi in 1971 to participate
in the Satyagraha Movement, launched by Jana Sangh as a volunteer to garner
support for the Mukti Bahini members.
Notably, various
anti-Pakistan developments such as Modi’s open confession regarding Indian
support to militants of Mukti Bahini, his arrival in Dhaka to receive award of
Atal Bihari Vajpai, presentation of ‘Surrender Ceremony’ photograph by
Bangladeshi leader to Modi, ruthless death sentences to Jamat-e-Islami
Pro-Pakistan leaders under highly doubtful and objectionable trials etc. show
that Indo-Bangladesh media nexus backed by Indian intelligence agency RAW has
become more active in the recent years to create mistrust among people of
Bangladesh against Pakistan.
Moreover, Indian
cross-border terrorism in Pakistan, her support to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
which is responsible for terror-acts in Pakistan—also involved in the massacre
of innocent children at Army Public School, Peshawar might be noted as instance
of anti-Pakistan developments.
Although
apparently, India claims to be the largest democracy, acting upon the
principles of liberalism and secularism, yet in practice, all political,
economic and social fields of the country are divided on the caste lines. It is
surprising that theoretically, Indian Constitution safeguards the rights of
minorities, but in practice, ideology of Hindutva prevails. Hindu majority led
by the BJP has shown complete disregard to the Constitution, and continued committing
excesses and cruelties against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits with
impunity.
Nonetheless, apart
from other frenzy events, the demolition of the Babri Masjid will remain a
major scar on Indian so-called secularism, as on the very day (6th December);
Indian fundamentalist leaders broke all the records of Hindutva terror by
deliberately hurting the feelings of the Muslims. The atrocities and tyranny
let loose on that day in Ayodhya continues unabated against the Muslims in one
form or the other, under the Modi regime.
Undoubtedly, we
can conclude that Babri mosque demolition exposed the myth of India’s
Secularism
Sajjad Shaukat
writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic
Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International
Relations
Email:
sajjad_logic@yahoo.com
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