Babri Masjid

Books on Babri Masjid saga:

Title: THE BABRI MASJID QUESTION, 1528-2003 — A Matter of National Honour (2 vol)

Editor: A.G. Noorani

Publisher: Tulika Books

The book comprises an impressive archive of the relevant historical, archaeological, political and legal documents from the 19th Century to the present day on the Ayodhya controversy, an invaluable guide and reference book to the facts of what is arguably one of the foremost political issues of the day. The compilation will in time become an important contribution to Indian historiography as it lays a solid foundation of historical truth and objectivity for future historians to work with.

In his Introduction, Noorani draws the main contours of the two-decade long Ram temple movement. Building from the historical lie on which the Ram temple movement was built, namely that the Mughal Emperor Babar destroyed a temple at the exact birthplace of Lord Rama to build a mosque, he describes the process by which the Masjid was first forcibly converted into a Mandir and subsequently demolished.

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Title: Archaeology of Babri Masjid

Authors: Surinder Kaur and Sher Singh

Publisher: Genuine Publications

From the book: The first relates to the year 1528 AD, which is when Babur was supposed to have visited Ayodhya and ordered the demolishing of the temple. Babur kept a daily diary, meant to be an autobiography called Tuzk-i-Babri, of which entries spanning a duration of 5 to 6 months are entirely missing. It is believed that after Babur’s death, when his son Humayun was once on the run from Sher Shah Suri, and camping out in a tent, these pages got drenched and were thus removed from the diary. Incidentally, the rest of his autobiography minus those pages may still be seen at the Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad.

However, the absence of these pages has very conveniently been interpreted otherwise by those who desire to prove that Babur visited Ayodhya during those very months. I therefore referred to his daughter Gulbadan Begum’s diary Humayunama, wherein she has very clearly stated that during those months, her mother and she were to be received at Agra by her father, but eventually they met up at Aligarh. Babur was already in the region for a hunting expedition along the Sarda river, following a military expedition against Muslim Afghan rebels led by Shaik Bayazid. Awadh – the region in which Ayodhya lies – had already been under Muslim influence since 1030 AD, when Syed Salar Masood Ghazi entered the region from Multan. So there was never a need for Babur to exert himself on the people of Awadh.

The fact is that Babur, an Uzbek rebel ruler himself, had been driven out of his domain and headed towards India. His aim was to establish a kingdom that would be ruled by successive Mughals, but without antagonizing the Indian populace. He even had a Hindu Prime Minister named Khiwa. He is known to have advised his son Humayun never to harm temples, the places of worship of the Hindu people. So the first falsity is that Babur visited Ayodhya.

If he didn’t, then who ordered the Babri mosque to be built? This mosque was actually built by the Sharqi kings of Jaunpur, 16 years before Babur was even born. I have had the nameplate inscriptions of the Babri mosque transcribed by Persian scholars, and the date testifies this year.

Apparently, the Sharqi rajas grabbed power by stabbing the then governor of the region (including Ayodhya). The Sharqi rajas were eunuchs, who ruled for about 100 years. The Babri mosque was ordered to be built during their reign, pretty much as a food for work program of that time. It took 10,000 people 5 years to build the mosque. For this duration, all those 10,000 people were paid for in food, and thus averted starvation.

This fact has been documented by Dr Francis Hamilton Buchanan, a surgeon and botanist who had also earlier served the East India Company. However, from 1807 to 1814, he was appointed by the Governor General of India Marques Wellesley to conduct an extensive survey that would include topography, history, antiquities, the condition of the inhabitants, religion, natural productions, agriculture, fine and common arts, and commerce. In 1813-1814, he focused on Ayodhya. I obtained copies of his conclusions from the British Library in London.

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Titile: ‘In the name of Rama’

Author: Aabid Surti

Publisher: ANHAD ( NGO )

‘In the name of Rama’ is a fictional tale of a true devotee of Rama, a wandering story-teller who sings the praises of Lord Rama from village to village. It is also a deeply metaphorical love story that explores the half-truths surrounding the Ram Janmabhoomi issue.

The story opens with the protagonist Ramasray who has been in coma for eight years, attended by his caretaker and beloved, Sumatiya. His inspiring story is pieced together by the young doctor who is treating him. A story of unusual courage and devotion, it climaxes on the day of the destruction of the Babri Masjid.

“This book was inspired by the real story of a police constable who stood alone at the foot of the Babri Masjid against a swirling ocean of karsevaks,” says author Aabid Surti. “You may call this madness… but I salute his courage.”

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Title: Ayodhya: 6 December 1992

Author: P V Narasimha Rao

Publisher: Viking Penguin

‘I cannot count how many people, both friends and opponents, have hurled at me the question, “Why did you not impose President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh in order to save the Babri Masjid from vandalism on 6 December 1992?” Indeed, this question must be examined . . .’

P.V. Narasimha Rao was the prime minister of India when, in December 1992, kar sevaks, flouting a Supreme Court order, streamed into Ayodhya in thousands. On 6 December, to the horror of the entire nation, they attacked the Babri Masjid and began to demolish the structure. The communal riots that followed ripped apart the secular fabric of the nation. Even today, the Ramjanmabhoomi–Babri Masjid dispute has not been resolved, and Ayodhya remains a hotbed of political intrigue and communal tension.

Could nothing have been done to prevent what happened at Ayodhya on 6 December 1992? Why did the Union government take no action when the kar sevaks were flouting a Supreme Court order? Why were paramilitary forces not deployed to protect the Babri Masjid when it was under imminent threat? Why did the state government of Uttar Pradesh not intervene in any way, and why did senior BJP leaders watch helplessly even as the mosque was being torn down? And why did it take so long for President’s Rule to be imposed on the state?

Ayodhya: 6 December 1992 records Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s view of what really happened at Ayodhya, and why. Comparing the 6 December 1992 incident with the unsuccessful attack on the Babri Masjid by kar sevaks in 1990 (when Mulayam Singh Yadav was chief minister of UP and a Janata Dal government ruled at the Centre), Rao discloses in no uncertain terms how the issue of building a Ram mandir at Ayodhya was politicized for electoral benefit. Discussing Article 356 of the Constitution at length, he explains why it was inadvisable to place UP under President’s Rule. Drawing on the Supreme Court order, parliamentary proceedings, eyewitness reports and his own political insights, he presents a comprehensive account of the machinations that led to the attack on the Babri Masjid, and indicates who might have gained from it, and how.

Written in the mid-’90s, after Rao stepped down as prime minister, and published posthumously according to the author’s wishes, this book is the key to understanding one of the most important political moments of modern history, and to recognizing the dangers of exploiting religious sentiments for narrow electoral benefits.

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Title: Anatomy Of A Confrontation: The Rise Of Communal Politics In India

Author: Sarvepalli Gopal

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

With the rise of the Hindu fundamentalist BJP as a significant electoral force nationwide and now the second most powerful party, Indian politics are in the process of a major shift in character. Not only is the shaky hold of Congress on power threatened by this dynamic party with its overt appeal to religious chauvinism, but the secular nature of the Indian state and delicate balance of relations between diverse religious communities are at stake.

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Title: Babri-Masjid Ramjanambhoomi Controversy

Author: Ashghar Ali Engineer

Publisher: Ajanta Publication

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Title: Communal History And Ramas Ayodhya

Author: R S Sharma

Publisher: People’s Publishing House

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Title: The Babri Masjid- Ramjanambhoomi Controversy

Author: Eric Wolf

Publisher: Kevin Champion

Title: Communal Politics: Facts versus Myths

Author: Ram Punyani

Publisher: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd

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Title: Ram Janmabhoomi vs. Babri Masjid -- A Case Study in Hindu-Muslim Conflict

Author: Koenraad Elst

Publisher: Voice of India

This book focuses on Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy and discusses whether Babar, or another Muslim ruler, really demolish a Hindu temple to build a mosque in its place, and if so, is it justified to right the wrongs of history by demolishing the existing structure.

There is a two fold discussion about this subject in this book: a/ Did Babar, or another Muslim ruler, really demolish a Hindu temple to build the mosque in its place? b/ If so, is it justified to right the wrongs of history by demolishing the existing structure and replacing it with a brand new Mandir?

The biggest problem for India’s national unity and integrity in the twentieth century has no doubt been what Indians call ‘Communalism’, the political conflict between the religions, especially between Hindus and Muslims. The most conspicuous communal bone of contention in India in the years 1986-1990 has certainly been the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid issue. The material object of the controversy is quite small: an unimpressive mosque-structure on a hilltop in Ayodhya, the town traditionally considered as the birth place of the protohistorical hero Ram. This architecturally rather uninteresting building is known as the Babri Majid, Babar’s mosque. As such, it has been named after Babar, the first Moghul emperor, implying it was built on his orders, or in honor, in 1528.

Many Hindus believe that Ram was born on the very spot where Babar’s mosque is standing. Therefore they call it Ram Janamabhoomi, Ram’s birth-ground. They also believe that Babar’s men built the mosque after demolishing a temple which was standing on the same spot in commemoration of Ram. Some Hindu organizations want to rebuild this temple, which implies removing the present structure. The Hindus have already taken control of the building in 1949, when the mosque was not in regular use any more. They installed idols and converted the mosque into a temple.

By orders of the government, however, the worshippers could only after puja from outside. In 1986, a judge ruled that the temple be opened for unrestrained Hindu worship. Subsequently, the Vishwa Hindu Parihad started a nationwide campaign for the replacement of the existing mosque-turned temple with a proper temple structure.

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Title: After Ayodhaya- Reclaiming the secular

Author: Irfan Habib & others

Publisher:  Sahmat

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Title: Hinduism and Secularism: After Ayodhya

Author: Editor- Arvind Sharma

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

The demolition of the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 was an event as significant as it was unexpected. In this book, nine scholars (Theodore P. Wright, Jr., John J. Carroll, Matthew A. Cook, Dhirendra K. Vajpeyi, Subhas C. Kashyap, Steven A. Hoffman, Srinivas Tilak, Koenraad Elst, and Vasudha Narayanan) explore the myriad significances of this event for the Hindu and Muslim communities, and for the relations between them, in India.