EXPLAINED: Ayodhya Dispute That Took Seven Decades To Reach Final Verdict

Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, however, the case was going on from before. 31 years later, read in detail about the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid Case, more popularly known as the Ayodhya Dispute.

New Delhi: Every case that comes before the Indian Judiciary is unique in its own way and comes with its own complexities. One such case, which was complex enough to last in Courts for almost seventy years, is the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid Case, more popularly known as the Ayodhya Dispute. Revolving around the control of a site that has traditionally been regarded as the birthplace of Lord Ram by Hindus and also linked to the Muslims because of the history and location of the Babri Masjid, this case may actually be regarded as a political, historical and socio-religious matter that has been an example of both, the co-existence of different religions in India and the faith in Indian Judiciary. Read to know all about the Ayodhya Dispute which started in the 20th Century and was closed in the 21st Century.

How Did Ayodhya Dispute Begin?

Ayodhya is believed to be a very sacred city for the Hindus as it is considered as the birthplace of Lord Rama while the Muslims have believed that the Babri Mosque was built by Mir Baqi in the same area in 1528, on the orders of Babur, the first Mughal emperor of India. Both Hindus and Muslims are said to have worshipped at the mosque-temple; Muslims inside the mosque and Hindus outside of it but in the complex. The first event of communal violence in the disputed area was recorded in the year 1853 and a year after that, the British erected a fence separating the place of worship for Hindus and Muslims who were expected to use the outer court and the inner court respectively.

Ayodhya Dispute: Complete Timeline

The first dispute regarding the entitlement/ownership of the area was filed in 1885 by Mahant Raghubir Das but the Faizabad Court rejected the plea. In December 1949, a Ram idol appeared inside the mosque and the Hindus saw this as a miracle; declaring the site as a ‘contested area’, the government locked its entrance.

Between 1950 and and 1961, a total of five suits were filed by both the parties including those from organisations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and UP Sunni Waqf Board. In February 1986, the inner gate of the Babri Mosque to be opened for the Hindus to pray, resulting in the constitution of a Babri Mosque Action Committee (BMAC).

It was in the year 1989 that all title suits were shifted to the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court  and on December 6, 1992 the Babri Mosque was demolished by Kar Sevaks triggering multiple communal riots, killing more than 2000 people. Eighteen years later, Allahabad High Court delivered a verdict on September 30, 2010 which was challenged by the parties, resulting in the involvement of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Verdict in the Ayodhya Dispute was delivered on November 9, 2019, almost seventy years later where the title was awarded to Shri Ram Virajman and an alternate site in Ayodhya for construction of a mosque was granted to the Sunni Waqf Board. However, the court had also ruled that the demolition of the Babri Mosque was against the rule of law; the main group of Muslim litigants had said that they would honour the SC Verdict and will not appeal against it.