A Crowd Tears Down the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya

On December 6, 1992, an estimated crowd of 150,000 Hindu nationalists assembled in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya for a rally organized by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishva Hindu Parishad, and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The gathering focused on the Babri Masjid, a sixteenth-century mosque erected under the Mughal commander Mir Baqi in 1528 during the rule of Babur. Hindu tradition revered the location as Ram Janmabhoomi, the birthplace of the deity Rama. While archaeological investigations confirmed the existence of an earlier non-Islamic structure beneath the mosque, its exact religious or secular identity remained debated among scholars, and historical documentation for the claimed demolition of an ancient Rama temple was scarce.

Tensions surrounding the property had escalated over generations. The first recorded religious violence at the site came in 1853, and in 1859 colonial authorities erected a boundary railing separating outer and inner courtyards. The situation transformed dramatically in 1949, when idols of Rama were installed inside the mosque. Regarded as a desecration by the congregation, the event sparked mutual lawsuits, prompting the state to lock the site. During the 1980s, the Vishva Hindu Parishad initiated a nationwide push for temple construction, finding political backing in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Following a 1986 court decree that reopened the gates for Hindu prayers, the movement expanded rapidly. A 1990 cross-country procession led by politician Lal Krishna Advani mobilized mass backing and triggered violent confrontations, consolidating the dispute as a dominant issue in national politics.