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How the Babri mosque destruction shaped India

bbc.com · 1,200 words · saved by 1 readers

On this day, 25 years ago, right-wing Hindu mobs razed to the ground the 16th Century Babri mosque, claiming that it was built on the site of a temple destroyed by Muslim rulers. The BBC's former India correspondent, Mark Tully, traces the rise of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since that event. On 6 December 1992, in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya, I saw a historic mosque, standing on ground believed to be the birthplace of the god Rama, demolished by riotous Hindu nationalists. It was the culmination of a six-year campaign spearheaded by the BJP to destroy the mosque and replace it with a temple. A crowd of around 150,000 that had assembled there suddenly surged forward, broke through the police cordons defending the mosque, swarmed over the building and started tearing it down. As I watched the last cordon collapse and the police walk away with their wicker shields held above their heads for protection from the stones raining down on them, with an off

How the Babri mosque destruction shaped India 6 December 2017 Share Save Add as preferred on Google Getty Images Right-wing Hindu mobs tore down the 16th Century mosque 25 years ago On this day, 25 years ago, right-wing Hindu mobs razed to the ground the 16th Century Babri mosque, claiming that it was built on the site of a temple destroyed by Muslim rulers. The BBC's former India correspondent, Mark Tully, traces the rise of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since that event. On 6 December 1992, in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya, I saw a historic mosque, standing

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