Saga of Hindus Reclaiming Ram Mandir Legally Through Courts

In the advent of Ram Mandir (Temple) ground breaking ceremony on Aug 5th 2020,  a sneak peak of how Hindus reclaimed the lost legacy from the ruins of Babri Masjid( Mosque) and it is important to highlight certain facts to the Left organizations like South Asian Solidarity Initiative (SASI) who is backed by Pakistani Lobby and calling Hindus as Fascists just for planning to display Lord Ram Pictures at Time Square in NY.

Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir tussle is not a modern day issue. It dates back to 500 years ago, when the first Mughal Babur after Invading India, asked his general Mir Baqi to construct a Mosque. Thus, a Mosque was built in 1528 in the name Masjid-i-Janmasthan in Ayodhya. The mosque was located on a hill known as Ramkot (Rams’s Fort).While Mir Baig happened to be Shia, the wakf board tried to claim the Mosque in 1949 against Sunni Wakf Board.  However, a local court favored Sunni wakf board considering Babur as a Sunni. But Soon after the Independence in 1947, Hindus wanted to claim the space as the mosque was built on top of an existing structure. However, the first Central Government termed this site as disputed despite Hindus raised this issue continuously.

Allahabad Court Order and ASI Findings

After the demolition of the Mosque in 1992 by Hindus and as per the Allahabad Court order Archeological survey of India (ASI) conducted a survey and submitted a 574 page report to the court about the findings of the structure. The report stated

Among the structures listed in the report are several brick walls ‘in east-west orientation’, several ‘in north-south orientation’, ‘decorated colored floor’, several ‘pillar bases’, and a ‘1.64-metre high decorated black stone pillar (broken) with figurines on four corners’ as well as inscription of holy verses on stone in Arabic language”

Earlier reports by the ASI, based on earlier findings, also mention among other things a staircase and two black basalt columns ‘bearing fine decorative carvings with two cross legged figures in bas-relief on a bloomed lotus with a peacock whose feathers are raised upwards’.

The excavations gave ample traces that there was a mammoth pre-existing structure beneath the three-domed Babri structure. Ancient perimeters from East to West and North to South have been found beneath the Babri structure. Beautiful stone pieces bearing carved Hindu ornamentations like lotus, Kaustubh jewel, alligator facade, etc., were used in these walls. These decorated architectural pieces were anchored with precision at varied places in the walls. A tiny portion of a stone slab is sticking out at a place below 20 feet in one of the pits. The rest of the slab lies covered in the wall. The items found below 20 feet should be at least 1,500 years old.According to archaeologists about a foot of loam layer gathers on topsoil every hundred years. Primary clay was not found even up to a depth of 30 feet. It provides a clue to the existence of some structure at that place over the last 2,500 years. The report also has findings about the North Black Polished Ware which refers to Iron age culture of India that dates back to 1500 BC.

Canadian geophysicist Claude Robillard performed a search in January 2003 using a Ground penetrating Radar and the findings correlated with the Findings of ASI. The finding stated

There is some structure under the mosque. The structures were ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 meters in depth that could be associated with ancient and contemporaneous structures such as pillars, foundation walls, slab flooring, extending over a large portion of the site”.

Supreme Court Iconic Verdict

Counsel from Hindu side, senior advocate PN Mishra appearing for the Ram Janmsthan Punaruddhar Samiti pinpointed elements found at the site – floral designs, animal sketches, bell, kitchen – that Islam forbids. Bell is treated as a musical instrument of Shaitan (devil). There was no water reservoir which a mosque has for performing wazu (washing hands, face as part of purity ritual). Graves were found on three sides of the building when Islam forbids prayers to be said facing graves.

On November 9th 2019, Supreme Court of India in its unprecedented verdict put an end to the civil dispute and the title suit of the 27 acres of land that took cognizance of ASI findings and observed that the Mosque was not built on vacant land rather built on a preexisting structure.

Reading the “unanimous” judgment on the Ayodhya title suit in a packed courtroom on Saturday Nov 9th 2019, CJI Ranjan Gogoi there is clear evidence that Hindus believe Lord Ram was born at the disputed site. “Babri Masjid was not constructed on vacant land. There was a structure underlying the disputed structure. The underlying structure was not an Islamic structure,” the bench said.

The above highlighted is just one aspect of observation in their judgment. There are various observations that clearly show Hindus are the right owners of the land and it also confirms the perseverance and transparent trails by Supreme Court of India. Thus, the Sunni wakf board said, it will accept the verdict and will not challenge the judgement.

Existing Structure from Excavations

In a major archaeological finding on March 21st 2020, carvings on sandstone, Shiv Ling and pillars were excavated during the land leveling work at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. Apart from this, during the excavation, a 5 feet Shiva Linga, 7 pillars of black touchstone, 6 pillars of red sandstone and broken idols of gods and goddesses were also discovered.

KK Mohammad, former Regional Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, in 2018 said that while carrying out an extensive survey at Ayodhya the ASI team found “existing brick foundations, which supported the pillars of a pre-existed temple.” In ancient Indian temple art, ‘Poorna Kalas’ is considered one of the eight auspicious symbols of prosperity and around 14 pillars had been discovered before the mosque was demolished in 1992, he had said adding that there were Poorna Kalasas engraved at the bottom of the pillars.

Shia Muslim board and its support to Ram Mandir

While the arguments were underway in Supreme Court between Hindu and Sunni Board, Interestingly The Shia Waqf Board made a brief submission before the five-judge bench hearing the case by making an open offer of the one-third portion of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in favour of the Hindus, in the event their entitlement to the land was accepted. But this offer did not seem to carry much weight as the Shia Waqf has a running dispute with the Sunni Waqf Board over the title to the mosque structure.

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