Demolition of the Babri Masjid

Uncommon card · No. 78750

The Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya, was destroyed on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The mosque had been the subject of a lengthy socio-political dispute, and was targeted after a political rally organised by Hindu nationalist organisations turned violent. In Hindu tradition, the city of Ayodhya is the birthplace of Rama. In the 16th century, the Mughal commander Mir Baqi built a mosque, known as the Babri Masjid, at a site identified by some Hindus as Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace of Rama. The Archaeological Survey of India states that the mosque was built on land where a non-Islamic structure had previously existed. In the 1980s, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) began a campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to Rama at the site, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its political voice. Several rallies and marches were held as a part of this movement, including...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Kandukuru Nagarjun, CC BY 2.0