The history was re—written nearly after 500 years, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed a bhumi pujan (ground breaking) and laid 9 bricks for the proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, 5 August 2020.
The dispute is nearly 500 year old ever since a mosque was constructed by the Mughals by demolishing the Ram Temple that existed in Ayodhya and is regarded as a birth place of Lord Ram..
The time line of the longest even dispute runs as: 1520-Mughal king Babar’s lieutenant Mir Banki constructed a mosque by demolishing the Ram Temple. 1813- Hindu organizations alleged that the mosque was constructed by demolishing the Ram temple.
1853- The first communal riot breaks out in Ayodhya over the temple issue. 1859- The then British administration put a fence encircling the disputed site. The Muslims were allowed to offer namaz inside the fence, while the Hindus were permitted to offer prayers at Ram Chabutara outside the fence. 1885- Mahant Raghuvar Das filed a complaint before Faizabad sub-divisional magistrate seeking permission to construct the temple at disputed site. The court rejected the demand.
1949- On 23 December 1949, the idols of Ram and Laxman were found on the site and Hindu organizations claimed that it was reincarnation of Lord Ram. However supporters of Mosque refuted the claim saying the idols were placed during night by some Hindu activists. Eventually the mosque was locked and the site was declared as “disputed site”. 1950-On 16 January 1950, Gopalsingh Visharad filed a complaint in the Fauzabad Civil Court seeking permission to offer puja at the site. The court granted the permission. However the Muslims objected to the permission given by the court.
1984- Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) forms a committee to set up the Ram temple at the site. 1986-On first February 1986, the Faizabad court granted the permission to the VHP to open the lock and offer prayers. However the Muslims opposed the decision and formed the Babri Masjid Action Committee, to oppose the move.
1989- Former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi permitted the Shila Nyas (stone laying), near the disputed site. 1990- Senior BJP leader L K Advani undertook a Padyatra across the country. The yatra was stopped and Advani was arrested in Bihar. Late V P Singh was heading the coalition government at the centre that time. Eventually BJP withdrew its support and the V P Singh government was toppled.
1991-BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh. The movements to send bricks for Ram temple began. 1992- The Kar Seveks and others demolished the disputed mosque and set up a small temple at the site on 6 December 1992. The communal riots erupted in different parts of the country, including Mumbai. Over 2000 were killed in the riots. The then PM late R V Narsimha Rao appealed to Muslims community to maintain calm. On 16 December 1992, the Commission headed by former Justice M S Librahan Commission was set up to inquire into the demolition.
1994- The case was transferred to Allahabad High court. 2001- On 04 May 2001, the Special CBO court dropped the charges of conspiracy against Shiv Sena Chief late Balasaheb Thackeray, BJP leaders-L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharati and 13 others.
2002-The Ayodhya department was set up on 01 January 2002 by the then PM late Atal Behari Vajpayee to resolve the dispute. On 01 April 2002, a three member bench of the Allahabad High Court began hearing of the case. The Hindu activists returning from Ayodhya by the Sabarmati Express train were attacked near Godhra (Gujarat) on 27 February 2002. In all 58 persons were killed in the incident. In the riots that erupted after the incident, over 2000 people were killed in Gujarat.
2003-The Archaeological Survey of India in its report submitted to Allahabad High Court on 22 August 2003, stated that the remains of temple dating back to 10 th century were found below the mosque. But the All India Muslin Personal Law Board raised objection to the claim. 2003- Seven leaders responsible for the demolition of the mosque were asked to be present in the court.
2009- The Libarhan Commission submitted its report to the then PM Dr Manmohan Singh nearly after 17 years. 2010- On 26 July 2010, a divisional bench of the Allahabad High Court reserved its verdict and asked the parties involved to settle the dispute amicably. On 28 September 2010, the Supreme Court rejected the petition demanding that the Allahabad High Court be restrained from delivering the judgement. On 30 September 2010, the Allahabad High Court ruled that the land at disputed site be apportioned between Ram Mandir Nyan, Sunni Waqf Board and Nirmohi Aghada.
2011- On 9 May 2011, the Supreme Court stayed the judgement of the Allahabad High Court. 2017-On 19 April 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the criminal charges be filed against L K Advani and others. On 09 November 2017, Waseem Rizvi, a Shia Muslim leader and four-time chairman of the Shia Central Board of Waqf in Uttar Pradesh, after meeting with UP Chief minister Yogi Adityanath suggested that the Ram Temple be constructed at proposed site for the Ram temple and the land for the mosque be allotted away from the temple. 16 November 2017- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, chief of the Art of Living tried to mediate between disputed parties. On 05 December 2017, the Supreme Court ordered disputed parties to clear their stand by 4 February 2018.
2018-Sunni Waqf Board on 08 February 2018 requested that the matter be heard on day to day basis by the Supreme Court. However the plea was rejected. On 14 March 2018, Advocate Rajiv Dhavan filed an appeal on behalf of the Sunni Waqd Board, saying that the judgement delivered in response to a petition filed by Ismail Farukhi and others (in1994) be sent to the constitutional bench for further hearing. The SC during hearing on 20 July 2018, reserved the judgement. On 27 September 2018, the Supreme Court rejected the demand to reconsider the matter saying the mosque is not inseparable part of Islam. On 12 November,2018 the SC rejected a petition filed by Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, requesting for speedy hearing of the matter.
2019-On 08 January 2019, a five member bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was set up to hear the appeals against the judgement of the Allahabad High Court delivered in September 2010. The bench comprised, Justices S A Bobde, N V Ramanna, U V Lalit and D Y Chandrachud. On 10 January, Justice Lalit recused himself from the case. On 25 January the bench was reconstituted with inclusion of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Jamir. On 08 March, a Dispute Redressal Committee was appointed under chairmanship of former SC Judge F M I Kalifulla. He submitted his report on First August 2019 in a sealed envelope. However since he was unable to resolve the dispute amicably, the SC began a day to day hearing from 06 August 2019 onwards. The SC completed the hearing and reserved the judgement on 16 October 2019.
On 09 November 2019, the SC in the final judgement, ordered the Government of India to create a trust to build the Ram Mandir temple. It also ordered the government to give an alternate 5 acres of land to the Sunni Waqf Board for the purpose of building a mosque.
