Eid-e-Milad processions called off in several cities ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� FREE PRESS �������������������������� � ������ ��������� ����������������������� Building temple BJP's Focus will now poll pledge since 1991 ������������������������ NEW DELHI: The Ram temple issue has been a part of shift to Babri the BJP's election manifestos since the 1989 Lok Sabha polls. However, at that time, the BJP did not speak about constructing the temple at the disputed site. demolition case "By not allowing the rebuilding of the Ram Janma ����������������������������� Mandir in , on the lines of SomnathMandir built �������� known ''karsevaks'' under �������� all my countrymen in by the Government of in 1948, it (government) has ������� Sections 395, 397, 332, 337, ��������� ���������������������������� wholeheartedly welcoming allowed tensions to rise, and gravely strained social har- 338, 295, 297, 153A of IPC, ���������������������������� the historic judgement de- mony," the BJP manifesto had said then. Now that the Supreme Court and Section 7 of the Crimi- BJP veteran LK Advani, livered by the five-member In the next elections in 1991, the saffron party said it has delivered its verdict in nal Law Amendment Act. the most prominent politi- ������������������������������� Constitution Bench of the firmly believed that construction of Ram Mandir at 'Jan- the much-awaited Ram Jan- Minutes later, a second FIR cal face of the Ram janmab- ������������� ����������������� Supreme Court today in the masthan' (birthplace) of Lord Ram was a symbol of the mabhoomi- dis- no. 198/92 was registered un- hoomi movement, on Satur- Ayodhya matter," he said. vindication of "our cultural heritage and national self-re- pute case, the focus will shift der Sections 153A, 153B, 505 day said the historic ������������������� Struggling to find a space spect". In Dec 1992, Hindu mobs brought down Babri to the second Ayodhya case of the IPC against L.K. Ad- Supreme Court judgment at the outcome which the Underlining that the judg- in the country's politics Masjid and built a makeshift temple dedicated to Ram. pertaining to the Babri vani, , Giri- on the Ayodhya issue has verdict has made possible. ment is the culmination of dominated by secular par- In 1996, the year when the BJP first got power albeit Masjid demolition that took raj Kishore, MurliManohar vindicated his stand and he "I stand vindicated, and a long and contentious ties, the BJP under L K Ad- only for 13 days, the party manifesto promised to facili- place on December 6, 1992. Joshi, , feels deeply blessed over feel deeply blessed, that the process over the last many vani hitched its bandwagon tate the construction of "a magnificent Shri Ram Mandir This case, related to the al- VinayKatiyar, Hari- the verdict paving the way Supreme Court has given decades, Advani, who has to the temple cause in its in Ayodhya which will be a tribute to Bharat Mata".In leged criminal conspiracy Dalmiya and SadhviRita- for construction of a mag- its unanimous verdict been the BJP's longest serv- Palampur resolution in 1998, when the BJP finally formed its broad coalition gov- behind the demolition of the mbhara. This was related to nificent Ram temple. paving the way for the con- ing president, said, "Now 1989, giving a defining Hin- ernment, it repeated its promise to build "a magnificent mosque, is in the final stages provocative speeches pro- Describing it as a moment struction of a magnificent that the prolonged Mandir- dutva edge to its politics Shri Ram Mandir" where a makeshift temple exists. It of hearing in a Special CBI moting enmity delivered of "fulfilment" for him, Ad- temple for Lord Ram at Masjid dispute in Ayodhya which until then had lacked also said the BJP will explore all means towards this end. court in . ahead of the demolition. vani, who celebrated his Ramjanmabhhomi in Ayod- has come to an end, the a popular cause celebre. In 1999, when the BJP returned to power, the party kept Some high-profile names Forty-seven other FIRs 92nd birthday on Friday, said hya," he said in a statement, time has come to leave all The issue combined with away from the temple issue, more to please many of its of Indian politics are the ac- were registered in cases re- "God Almighty" had given while "wholeheartedly" contention and acrimony its alliance with anti-Con- allies. However, in 2004, the BJP manifesto said: "The cused in the case, which has lated to offences of assault him an opportunity to make welcoming the judgement. behind and embrace com- gress parties in 1989 won the NDA believes an early resolution of the Ayodhya issue been going on for almost on mediapersons, looting his own humble contribu- Stressing that Ram and munal concord and peace." BJP 85 seats in Lok Sabha will strengthen national integration. We continue to hold three decades now. Some of valuables like cameras and tion to the mass movement Ramayana occupy an es- He appealed to all sections elections against mere two that the judiciary's verdict in this matter should be ac- the accused persons in the reporting gadgets etc. All and stressed that time has teemed place in India's cul- of India's diverse society to in 1984. Advani launched his cepted by all. At the same time, efforts should be intensi- case have already passed FIRs were filed at the Ram come to leave all contention tural and civilisational her- work together to strength- famous 'Rath Yatra' from fied for dialogue and a negotiated settlement in an at- away. The first FIR in this Janmabhoomi police sta- and acrimony behind and itage and Ram janmabhoo- en the country's national Somnath temple in Gujarat, mosphere of mutual trust and goodwill." case, related to the demoli- tion in Ayodhya. embrace communal concord mi (birthplace) holds a spe- unity and integrity. drawing people in their thou- In 2009, the BJP said there was an overwhelming desire tion of the Babri Mosque, A few days later, the gov- and peace. cial and sacred place in the Advani also welcomed the sands as his chariot rolled to have a grand temple and it again promised to explore was registered immediate ernment recommended the Terming the agitation for hearts of crores of country- SC's decision that five acres through the country's heart- possibilities to facilitate such a construction. It repeat- after it was brought down on demolition case no. 197 to the Ram temple the biggest men, he said it is gratifying of land be given at a promi- land rallying support for ed the promise in the 2014 and said it will "explore all December 6, 1992. CBI, while the second case since India's freedom move- that their belief and senti- nent place for building a building Ram temple at the possibilities within the Constitutional framework to fa- This first FIR no. 197/92 no. 198 was handed over to ment, he said it was aimed ments have been respected. mosque in Ayodhya. "I join disputed site in Ayodhya. cilitate construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. was registered against un- the CB-CID branch of the UP police. A year later, however, the second case was also How UP cops curbed hate speech PV: Architect of modern India or PM who watched Babri was demolished? transferred to the CBI. NEW DELHI: A social media monitoring team in each of the 75 districts in the state, proactive measures to sanitise e may go down in history tinues till today. minister. Rao, who passed tral paramilitary forces to suc- WhatsApp and constant monitoring of certain groups as the prime minister who On Saturday, another day away in 2004, was accused cessfully take over the Babri helped Police control the spread of hate Hput India on the path of lib- for the record books, the by several quarters of in- Mosque and the surrounding speech and misinformation on various social media plat- eralisation but P V Narasimha Rao Supreme Court delivered a action in the face of the area, ensuring its security, timing forms as the Supreme Court delivered the historic verdict will also always be remembered as historic verdict backing the gathering movement for and the element of surprise were in the Ayodhya title suit, a top state police officer said on the man under whose watch the construction of a Ram tem- the demolition of the of essence, he writes in his book Saturday. Babri Masjid was demolished, jolt- ple by a government-creat- mosque. Though his prime "The Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir The UP Police ensured well in advance that no WhatsApp ing the foundations of secularism ed trust at the disputed site ministerial tenure saw Dilemma: An Acid Test for India's groups in the communally-sensitive areas were able to post in the country. in Ayodhya and ruling that many landmark develop- Constitution". fake, mischievous or hate messages and disturb the law and The legacy of the late polyglot, an alternative five-acre plot must ments, the demolition is writ But Rao felt the contingency order situation, Ashutosh Pandey, Additional Director Gen- scholar and politician with a dif- be found for a mosque in the town. large on his legacy. According to plan was not workable and dis- eral (ADG), UP Police, and special in-charge of Ayodhya se- ference will forever be tainted by The spotlight returned to the key Madhav Godbole, who was home missed it, Godbole says in the curity, told IANS during an interaction. the demolition of the 16th century political players -- LK Advani, Uma secretary at the time, the MHA book. Former PM Manmohan mosque on December 6, 1992, when Bharti and MM Joshi for putting prepared a comprehensive con- Singh and ex-president Pranabda, he was prime minister. Could he their party on the arc of electoral tingency plan for the takeover of at an event earlier this year, ex- Continued from page 1 have stopped the demolition? The wins. And inevitably, Rao, the Con- the structure by invoking Article pressed the hope that history will troubling question has been at the gress' first non Gandhi leader to 356 of the Constitution. It was judge Rao in a better manner lord of... centre of a 30-year debate that con- complete a five-year term as prime emphasised that in order for cen- than it has done till now. "The dispute is over immovable property. The court does not decide title on the basis of faith or belief but on the basis of evidence," the judgement said, delivered at Ayodhya verdict the end of a marathon 40-day hearing-- the second longest in the history of apex court. Justice Gogoi is coincides with due to retire on November 17. "On the balance of prob- abilities, there is clear evidence to indicate that the wor- 30th anniv of fall ship by the Hindus in the outer courtyard" has contin- of Berlin Wall ued unimpeded even before 1857 when the British an- nexed Oudh region. "The Muslims have offered no evi- NEW DELHI: The his- dence to indicate that they were in exclusive possession" toric verdict issue on of the mosque before 1857, it said. Saturday coincided "The faith of the Hindus that Lord Ram was born at with the 30th anniv of the demolished structure is undisputed," it added. the fall of Berlin Wall, a The verdict in the politically-sensitive Ram Janmb- fact highlighted by PM hoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, one of the most Modi as he urged people important and most anticipated judgements in India's to shun any bitterness history, runs into 1,045-page pages. The apex court and come together to bench also comprised Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chan- build a new India. drachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer. Settling a fractious is- As security was tightened at communally sensitive sue that goes back more places across the country, , the chief of than a century, the apex ruling BJP party's parent organisation RSS, said the court in a historic ver- verdict should not be seen as anybody's victory or de- ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ dict backed the con- feat. The building of a Ram temple is a long-held objec- struction of a Ram tem- tive of the BJP. There were no reports of violence or un- ple by a trust at the dis- rest from Ayodhya, where a massive police force was de- puted site, and ruled ployed, or any other part of the country. The verdict was ����������������������������������������������������� that an alternative five- pronounced on 14 appeals filed in the apex court against ���������� gave birth to the 'Mandal-Mandir' politics acre plot must be found the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in which left society cleaved on both religious for a mosque in the Hin- four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be par- The Supreme Court's verdict marking the de- and casteist lines. du holy town. The land- titioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni nouement of the vexatious The arrest of Advani, then the BJP presi- mark verdict on Satur- Waqf Board, the Nirmohi and 'Ram Lalla'. might have riled or relieved the warring par- dent, was as dramatic as its effects were day coincided with the The bench said the high court wrongly decided the title ties, but L K Advani, the hawk-turned-dove cataclysmic. "It was early in the morning anniversary of the fall of suit by resorting to partitioning of the disputed land in BJP patriarch, must be a happy man. when my telephone rang. I was surprised the Berlin Wall 30 years three parts. "The disputed site was government land in The apex court verdict, which has paved to find the chief minister on the other side. ago, a pivotal event in the revenue records," the court said adding," The fact the way for the construction of a Ram tem- He was his usual chatty self. He asked me world history which sig- that there lay a temple beneath the destroyed structure ple in Ayodhya, came just a day after he cel- kitna sotehain (how long do you sleep). nalled beginning of Ger- has been established by the Archaeological Survey of ebrated his 92nd birthday. Nearly three Knowing that Prasad himself was a late man reunification. "To- India(ASI) and the underlying structure was not an Is- decades ago, on October 23, 1990, his 'chari- riser, I enquired what made him rise so ear- day is Nov 9 when the lamic structure." C S Vaidyanathan, lawyer for deity ot', a swanky air-conditioned monster of a ly," reminisced S D Narayan, a veteran Berlin Wall fell and two 'Ram Lalla', said the verdict is very balanced and it is a vehicle, was stopped on track by the orders journalist who then headed the Patna bu- different streams had victory of people. But, the Sunni Waqf Board, one of the of an ebullient Chief Minister Lalu reau of PTI. "Baba ko pakadliya (we have come together and taken main parties, said it was not satisfied and will seek a re- Prasad at little-known town of Samastipur, caught the old man) was his terse response. a new resolve," Modi view. "The verdict holds no value for us, It has lot of con- setting off a string of events that would Governments across the country and in said. "Today is also the tradictions," Zafaryab Jilani, lawyer for the Board, told shape the country's politics in years to come. many states were feeling the heat of Ram opening of the Kar- reporters. The said it has no "regrets" Advani's attempt to galvanise Hindus Rath Yatra and were itching to do some- tarpur corridor, in regarding the verdict. Home Minister ap- through his 'Ram Rath Yatra', and Lalu's thing to bring it to a halt. Finally, the flam- which both India and pealed to all communities to accept the verdict and act of having him arrested, was a water- boyant chief minister of Bihar chose to Pakistan have a part- maintain peace and remain committed for 'Ek Bharat shed moment in the country's history that bite the bullet," said Narayan. nership." Shreshtha Bharat' while Defence Minister urged everyone to take the verdict with equanim- ity and magnanimity. The Congress said it respects the verdict and is in favour of construction of Ram temple. Janmabhoomi movement- engineered A new dawn... "Now as a society, every Indian has to work by giving pri- by Singhal & charioted by Advani ority to his duty. Harmony, unity and peace are very im- portant for the development of the country," Modi em- he movement In its judgement, the court said the sured a rise in the popularity of the phasised. Speaking about the Kartarpur corridor which Twhich catapulted the BJP to the faith of Hindus that Ram was born at RSS's ideology. was inaugurated earlier in the day, the Prime Minister national limelight in the 1990s was the site was undisputed, and he is He acted as the link between sants- compared it to bringing down of the iconic Berlin Wall. conceived by Ramchandra symbolically the owner of the land. seers, Sangh leaders and the BJP on "November 9 was the date when the Berlin Wall fell in Paramhans, engineered by Ashok Talking about the role of various per- the issue. Germany. It marked the merging of two different ide- Singhal and charioted by L K Advani. sonalities in the Ram Janmabhoomi Singhal persuaded the BJP to intro- ologies. On November 9 today, the Kartarpur Sahib Cor- An engineer by profession, former movement, journalist Hemant Shar- duce the issue in its manifesto in the ridor was also opened which marked an understanding VHPpresident Singhal built the move- ma described Singhal was the brain- 1989 Lok Sabha election. The party in- between India and Pakistan. The verdict of the Supreme ment over years for the construction child. Advani made it a political issue cluded the Ram temple issue in its Court on 9 November gives the lesson to move united on of a Ram temple at the site where the and brought it to the forefront of the manifesto in 1989 under the presi- the path of progress," said Modi. Babri Masjid stood in Ayodhya. country's discourse, while Ramchan- dentship of Advani. After taking the Till then, it was a cause advocated by dra Paramhans was pioneer of the ag- charge of party, he charted a shift in Don’t be part... sant Ramchandra Paramhans who itation. Singhal came to the forefront the BJP's ideology towards hardline headed the of the movement in 1984 when heor- Hindutva, which resulted in the Nath said Police would decide about law and order for and some other small Hindu groups. ganised the first "dharamsansad" and change of fortunes for the party from three days as per its discretion. He said the state regis- In the late 1980s, Advani became the mobilized sants and seers in support two to 85 seats in Parliament. tered total peace except some minor incidents. Nath said political face of the movement, giving of the Ram temple issue. The party's shift in ideology exem- police arrangements would continue like this as of now. it heft and wide publicity. The SC in a He later became VHP's working plified by the Ram RathYatra led by Nath said he had cancelled his Indore tour on Sunday historic verdict on Saturday backed president and shaped the movement him in 1990 as part of an effort to and he would stay in Bhopal . the construction of a Ram temple by a in such a manner to make it accept- generate electoral support by ap- trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya. able to masses.Singhal's strategies en- pealing to .

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