by Elton Gomes
Several reports stating that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief, Amit Shah, had said that the construction of Ram temple would begin in Ayodhya before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were denied by the BJP on Saturday. The party posted a tweet saying that Shah didnt make any statement on the issue of Ram Mandir, and added that such a matter was not on the agenda when Shah held a meeting with Telangana BJP leaders in Hyderabad on Friday.
Yesterday in Telangana, BJP President Shri @AmitShah didnt make any statement on the issue of Ram Mandir as being claimed in certain sections of the media. No such matter was even on the agenda.
BJP (@BJP4India) July 14, 2018
However, a BJP member contradicted his party. When India Today contacted the partys national executive member, P. Shekhar Rao, and inquired about the meeting, Rao said that Shah did say that the Ram temple construction would begin before the 2019 general elections. Rao further said that Shah told BJP leaders that circumstances for building the temple are “favourable”.
According to a tweet posted by news agency ANI, Rao said that BJP is committed to Ram temple, and now the matter is sub judice.
Yesterday he said, BJP is committed to Ram temple&now matter is sub judice. Personally, he wants it to be made & hopefully process may begin before 2019 polls because of circumstances relating to courts&other aspects: NR. Rao, BJP on Amit Shah’s meeting with Telangana BJP leaders pic.twitter.com/2nhmdM6STk
ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2018
At a meeting of party leaders held in Hyderabad, Shah said that relevant steps would be taken to clear the deck for the construction of the temple before the elections. BJP National Executive member Perala Sekharjee, BJPs national executive member, briefed the press about the meeting in Telangana. “Considering the developments, I believe that construction of Ram temple will begin before the coming general elections,” Sekharjee quoted Shah as saying, as reported by IANS.
Regardless of what Amit Shah did or did not say, the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute has been a contentious issue since a long time. The dispute has drastically transformed the social fabric of Bombay and will remain a watershed in the history of India.
A brief history of the dispute
The first shots in the dispute were fired in 1885, when the deputy commissioner of Faizabad did not permit Mahant Raghubar Das to build a temple on the land adjoining the mosque. Thereafter, in a Faizabad court, Das filed a suit against the secretary of state for India, and sought permission to build a temple at the outer courtyard of the Babri Masjid. In 1949, idols of Ram Lalla were placed secretively under the Masjids central dome.
A year later, in 1950, Paramahansa Ramachandra Das filed a suit in order to continue holding pooja and keeping the idols in the structure. After several suites were filed by the Nirmohi Akhara and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, a district judge orders the removal of locks, and the site is opened for Hindu devotees in 1986.
All hell broke loose in 1992, when a frenzied mob of kar sevaks climbed atop the Masjids dome and demolished parts of it. In 1993, the state government then took control of more than 67 acres of land around the area and sought the Supreme Courts opinion on whether there was a temple before the mosque was built.
A property dispute
In February 2018, the Supreme Court said that it will deal with the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case as a pure land dispute case and refused to hear it on a daily basis. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan, and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer refused the appellants’ plea for day to day hearing, as 700 poor litigants are waiting for justice. However, the Sunni Waqf Board said that the matter should be referred to a constitution bench.
On the other hand, senior advocate Harish Salve, counsel for Ram Lalla, argued that the dispute should be declared as land dispute alone. Salve opposed the Sunni Waqf Boards suggestion and said that religion and politics should be kept away from the court. We are well past 6 December 1992 (the day of the demolition of Babri Masjid). All that remains is a title dispute over property, which this present three-judge bench should decide as a title suit, Salve said, as reported by Live Mint.
Where religious groups stand
In November 2017, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad and the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf board hammered out an agreement that was to be submitted to the Supreme Court, leaders of both bodies said. UP Shia Waqf Boards chief Waseem Rizvi said that the Board is drafting the terms and conditions for the agreement. It has been amicably decided that no new mosque will be built in Ayodhya or Faizabad, Rizvi told PTI.
On July 13, 2018, Live Mint reported that the UP Shia Waqf Board told the Supreme Court that it is prepared to give up its one-third share of land to resolve the age-old conflict. The Board said that it supported the settling of the Ayodhya land dispute in the interest of unity, integrity and honour of this great country.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius