BABARI MASJID

Kuldip Nayar on 6 December, 1992

The sixth December in 1992 was like any other day. Yet (Ayodhya) was turned into a varitable hell in no time. A few leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the two Hindu fundamentalist organizations, began to execute their well- guarded plan to destroy the mosque.

It was a sequel to the rath yatra which fostered a climate of intolerance and extremism. The fundamentalists explained it as the redemption of their promise to build a temple at the place where, they said, Ram was born thousands of years ago. Even before anybody realized what it was all about, there was a hive of vandals pulling down the mosque.

The security forces on the spot stood quietly, frozen in inaction. Leaders like L.K. Advani, the BJP president, egged on the people to lay burning tyres on the road to check the police from reaching the place. Before long, the 500-year-old masjid was demolished to the last brick. Some VHP and BJP activists went after press reporters and photographers so as to obliterate every trace of pillage.

The BJP leaders celebrated, Uma Bharati riding the back of Murli Manohar Joshi and many others distributing sweets. But what spread all over the country was a wave of shock, remorse and guilt.

For the first time India realized that secularism had not taken roots in the country firmly. For the first time many stopped dreaming great dreams of maintaining the centuries-old composite culture and the pluralistic society.

On November 30 at the National Integration Council's meeting in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was given full authority to take any step he thought fit to protect the mosque.

Still he failed to stop the destruction, which went on for four hours, unchallenged.

At least, he dismissed the UP government, banned the RSS, and arrested persons like Advani and Joshi but releasing them within 36 hours. He also broadcast an assurance that the mosque would be rebuilt at the same place. It was once again a promise which he knew he would not keep.

He invited some senior journalists to explain how the BJP had let him down and how the government did all it could in the circumstances. He offered no apology. But he did not sound convincing.

"How did a small temple come up after the central government took over the UP administration on the sixth evening?', I asked. He said that they could not land the troops because it was foggy there. They had to wait till the crowd would clear. But he promised: "I assure you that the small temple will not be there for long." That was three years ago.

The Babari Masjid structure had come to be a symbol of belief in a society that did not mix religion with politics and ensured equality to all communities before the law. That impression got smudged. Still bigger damage was done to India's reputation of being a law- abiding nation, particularly when even the Supreme Court was flouted. Still some leaders had the cheek to say that their religious faith had more sanctity than the law of the land.

Yet something positive emerged on the Sixth December. Secular forces took up the gauntlet thrown down by the fundamentalists. The real confrontation between communal and non-communal forces began from that time. It is a long battle.

(Source: The Nation and the World)

All India Muslim Intelligentsia Forum Charter of Demands

1.     Due proportionate representation of the Muslim community in Police and other security forces.

2.     Fixation of responsibility for occurrence of communal riots on local administration.

3.     Due representation for the Muslims in administrative and law and order machinery.

4.     Establishment of Central Schools in Muslim- majority localities.

5.     Administrative sanction for private technical and non-technical institutions established by the Muslims.

6.     Due representation of the Muslim community in   Central and State Committees for preparation of educational syllabus.

7.     Reservation for Muslims in all educational and social institutions.

8.     Establishment of independent financial institutions for education, employment and trade by the Muslims.

9.     Release of Muslim properties under occupation of Central and State Governments.

10.  Establishment of Ministry for Minority Affairs at Central and State level.