In this December 6, 1992 photograph, rioters attack the wall of the 16th century Babri Masjid Mosque with iron rods at a disputed holy site in the city of Ayodhya. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
NEW DELHI: The demolition of the Babri mosque on December 6, 1992 in Ayodhya was planned and top Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders knew about the plot to knock down the mosque, The Times of India reported, basing it on the investigation carried out by the investigative website Cobrapost.
According to the investigation, senior leaders such as L K Advani, th then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh as well as former Congress prime minister P V Narashimha Rao were aware of the plot.
The mosque was razed in 1992 by Hindu mobs, sparking clashes between Hindus and Muslims in which nearly 2,000 people were killed.
Hindus and Muslims have quarrelled for more than a century over the history of the Babri mosque. Hindus claim that the mosque used to stand on the birthplace of their god-king Rama, and was built after the destruction of a Hindu temple in the 16th century.
A detailed sting operation was carried out by Cobrapost on the 23 people who were part of the the Ram Janambhoomi movement. The operation claimed that the demolition was planned by the various organisations of the Sangh Parivar, which is a family of different organisations of Hindu nationalists and was not the result of a mob getting out of control.
The Times of India further reported that the demolition was carried out by trained volunteers.
Cobrapost quoted a leader of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement Santosh Dubey as saying, "He (Advani) had agreed on the idea of felling the structure. It was he who led the processions, addressed the meetings and talked about it everywhere he went. You broke it or not, but you gave a call and prepared people for the job."
Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, another leader of the movement is also quoted by Cobrapost claiming that, "On the night of December 5 Kalyan was informed. He was told that if need be the structure would be felled."
Further, after the demolition of the mosque there were allegations against Rao that he had tacitly supported the destruction of the mosque. According to the Cobrapost sting operation leaders of the movement such as Vinay Katiyar, B. L. Sharma, Santosh Dubey, Sakshi Maharaj and Vedanti explicitly recognise the support of the former Congress prime minister.
The Times of India makes it clear that it has no autonomous confirmation of the claims made by Cobrapost.
COMMENTS (31)
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@Indian Catholic: He is as much as what you are not a bit less.
@m balachandran: timing does not change the truth. talk about the wrong done and not when where and why. That is trying to miss lead and hide the truth.
@Kumar: Sure you do not need a lecture on secularism as long you follow the spirit of the Constitution of India and do not discriminate on the basis of religion, region, caste and creed but once you begin the game of only Hindu is patriot and so on then you do need a lecture Sir, as you are brain washed with hate. Please watch out. The fore fathers of Muslims and Christians in India have been living here as long as Hindus so do not teach them patriotism as this is their land to.
Hindus are just taking back what was rightfully theirs. When did retrieving stolen property become illegal?
@Indian Catholic: You say:- Who are you to comment?
If the person is from Muslim League of India he represents a party recognised by Election Commission of India. A Muslim has as much right to comment on demolition of a mosque as a Catholic has; perhaps greater. What's your problem, after all, he is not talking of Shiva Temple v/s Catholic Church of San Thome of Mylapaore Madras.
@Tani: going by your logic, the Government of India should have reconstructed the. historical mosque. Has it been reconstructed during these 22 years? How many of the culprits were actually punished? No hard feeling though but Actions speak louder than words!
@Muslim Leaguer: Let it be a farce for you. Who are you to comment?
As much as L. K. Advani & Kalyan Singh must be blamed for the demolition of the Masjid-i-Janmsthan aka Babri Masjid, some amount of blame must also be apportioned to the Waqf committee for their antagonistic approach that precipitated this calamitous event which further distanced the two largest communities in India.
It was the Waqf committee which disallowed all attempts by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) to carry out spot excavations to determine if a Hindu temple lay underneath the Babri masjid. After the demolition, since there were no longer any objections, ASI carried excavations as per the orders of the court and excavated an entire temple underneath. As a result, 2/3 of the land has been awarded by the court to the Hindus.
@Mirror!: "....What’s important is you have deterrence systems in place to punish bad people and laws to protect people’s rights, properties etc........"
So who went to jail (other than couple of innocent scapegoats) for the crime of destroying a monument protected under law? The main instigator became Dy. PM of India. And you are boasting of the meaningless Constitution that has some lie called "Secular" interpolated. (original Constitution of 1950 did not have the words Secular or Socialist in the Preamble). It is time to stop pretending & the first thing Modi must do is to remove that dishonest claim of India being Secular..
what his cobra was doing these many years . why should they timed it now. they must have taken money from some political parties. more over this is an old issue and let us not bother about this postmortem report. we have lot more current issues to handle and remember corruption is eating out our country. let us bother about this and forget this old issue.
@ Muslim leaguer 1. the "act" was condemned by india and Indians 22 years ago. Cases were filed. Action was taken,stringent legal acts were brought to strengthen protection of religious shrines,provision for security, anti violence etc. 2. We are a largest democracy and will remain so. Because we are 1.2billion people who vote and elect our leaders to represent us in parliament since 47 your irrational rant won't change that fact ok? While I appreciate your concern and well being for my citizens over "a" act that happened 22 years ago why not extend same curtesy and focus on rights of your own minority people and shrines that are targeted every second day in today's time of 2014, Blasphemy etc? Mudslinging others better off than you who are neck deep into it, won't make your country realities go away or better. Focus on them than us, we have our leaders whom we voted to speak for us and our countries internal matters. Separated at 1947 remember?
@Urban Legend: The notion of largest democracy is nothing but a farce unless the liberal Hindus condemn this blot on the face of India.
@Urban Legend: Indians don't need a lecture on secularism from the ISLAMIC Republic of Pakistan...
@Anjaan: Your argument that " Babri Masque is a symbol of Hindu India’s decline … removal of all such symbols is necessary for India’s revival" is totally flawed. As per your argument then all the buildings made by British like President House, Parliament House, India Gates, Victoria Memorial etc are also symbol of India's decline. Then shall we demolish all these historical buildings. History and historical monuments,however much demeaning or glorifying must be maintained for generations to come to take their lessons from historical past.
Has been a common knowledge all these years.
India, the historic land of the Hindus, does not have any burden of obligation to be secular ... when neighbouring Pakistan's constitution provides protection to the Muslims, and the blasphemy law is the tool to target and systematically decimate the non-Muslims, particularly the Hindus ... Babri Masque is a symbol of Hindu India's decline ... removal of all such symbols is necessary for India's revival ...
@ Blunt @ urban legend "secular, largest democracy" Yes we are world's largest democracy and don't need A+ certificate from you to prove it. What are you exactly? Secular Democracy,then dictatorship,then Islamic republic now again unstable democracy. And you have audacity to question a strong 67 year old uninterrupted democracy? Democracy - "system of government formed by elected representative voted by people." We have the system and use electronic voting system throughout the country to have free/fair election without rigging. " Secular country" - Read Indian constitution it's secular in nature, no particular religion has extra rights or powers. All are equal under law.
Now every country,race etc has its share of bad people. This is not democracy of angels or gods that no crime take place, they are mere "humans". What's important is you have deterrence systems in place to punish bad people and laws to protect people's rights, properties etc which we have. Now compare vis-via your country constitution/system you will get the real picture where you stand. Minorities your side don't even have cremation ground,marriage registration rights, compulsory Islamic studies for all..what talk about rest desecration then?
@Blunt: Sir you have said "No surprises, as literally everything is expected in the biggest democrazy of the world." AND you are right. BUT this biggest democracy is unique in two ways. One, We do not hide things under the carpet and do not spend life time in denying the truth. Two, it is the people of India.. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians who get together and trace the culprits and then chase them and chase them till they are brought to the books. It is these people of India who brought to the notice of the world that Samjhauta Express disaster was hand work of right wing Hindu organisation and not any other country. It is we the people who are chasing the demolishers of Babri Masjid, It is we who are chasing and ensuring that culprits of Gujarat do not get away. So Sir the sarcasm of many comments here does not deter us. Yes things go wrong but we know our path. Hope you will please appreciate our commitment as a country. Regards.
@patriotic pakistani. Finally it took india to admit it? Lol all news you get regarding attack /no attack in india are, from "indian" sources and "indian" newspapers/politicians. So if you knew 22 years back it is because india had already "admitted" the event happened in UP which was published in your paper 22 years ago. Its funny how people claim to know more sitting in other country than us.
Btw rss did it and congress and other secular regional political parties from day one has accused it of it, nothing new about it today. It's released, now in UP news because of elections. Voting is taking place in few days there, they want bjp to loose votes "reminding" voters of 22 years back event to influence their votes. Tactful timing/move to release it.
"After 24 years years india admitting this" Where does the question of "india admission" arise was it an international 2 country bilateral dispute? Its "our" "internal" "domestic" UP "state" matter not "india's" or "other country's'. " So stop dragging rest 29 states and central government into UP's domestic issues.
Still talking about "a" "babri" that happened 22 eon years ago? While every a "babri" happens in your country @ modern era of 2014?
@Patriotic Pakistani:
Christian churches, Sikh temples and Hindu temples are destroyed every day in the land of the pure ////ers. You pakistani has some nerve to comment on an isolated event which was an abbogration that happened 24 years ago as far as India is concerned. How many minority places of worship is standing in pakiland today.?
Lots of Hindus pretending to be Muslims will now come out of the woodwork.
Did we try to retain Hindu population in 1947? Do we have 13% Hindu population in Pakistan? do we have Hindu movie stars, Hindu President of Pakistan, Hindu missile scientists? Are Hindus living freely without fear in Pakistan as Muslims in India? We don't have any moral authority to comment on internal affairs of India. Even Muslim minorities have become second class citizens here.
No surprises, as literally everything is expected in the biggest democrazy of the world.
Let's protect places of worship that are in use. Babri Masjid was an dilapidated, abandoned mosque that had not been used for decades.
Thats an open secret. everyone knows that. Cobrapost came to this conclusion over 21 years too late.
We knew it from the beginning that it was preplanned attack by Hindu fanatics. It took 24 years for India to finally admit this. Pity.
Yaawwnn.!!! So?