It was one of the darkest moments in the otherwise bright history of independent, democratic and secular India when on December 6, 1992 one of the venerated houses of God, 400-year old Babri Masjid was demolished brick by brick in the broad-day light in full view of global media by a frenzied and violent mob of misguided and hate-filled hooligans collected from the whole country. The whole world condemned this heinous and hateful act as the worst example of incitement of raw religious sentiments for narrow and selfish, political ends.
The then President of India Shankar Dayal Sharma rightly called it the greatest crime after the murder of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi in the hands of a religious fanatic belonging to the same lunatic fringe. This act of terror was responsible for several terrorist acts and analysts squarely blame Hindutva fascism for this.
India’s head will remain bowed in shame unless this wrong is rectified. Even L.K. Advani, one of the architects of this infamous outrage, was forced to say that that was the saddest day of his life as if he was not responsible for the demolition. Even now he repeats the same sentence as if he is incapable of realising the great crime he committed when he incited the mobs throughout the country during his infamous yatra, which culminated in the destruction of the House of God. History will never forgive him and his cohorts. The perpetrators of this crime who brought the nation to the brink of communal holocaust will be remembered as the worst enemies of the country who instigated people to murder and mayhem.
Justice Liberhan Commission, in its Report, has categorically said that tens of crores were contributed by Parivar to outfits and individuals for the campaign. It said that the demolition was the result of meticulous planning and mobilisation, fanned, financed and facilitated by sangh parivar, when Kalyan Singh reduced the UP administration to unquestioning compliancy. The Commission has held both the radicals and ‘pseudo-moderates’ of the parivar equally responsible for the outrage. It has confirmed the culpability of Kalyan Singh, his ministers and big leaders of Sangh Parivar and its affiliates. It details how RSS writ ran in the State administration. It also brings out the falsehood displayed by the culprits, who gave false assurances to the Supreme Court of protecting the Masjid.
The Liberhan Commission has described in unambiguous terms that the king, the courtiers and their cohorts all were naked. It is a question of fundamental importance whether justice would be done in the case of Babri Masjid. We have seen even in the past that there are two sets of laws: one for the common Indians and the other for the high-ups and political leaders. The civil society must continuously exert pressure to bring the culprits to the book however high positions they may hold. A nation sustains itself and achieves greatness not through its military power or its economic clout but through certain ethical and moral principles. Upholding the rule of law is one of these basic principles, which must be maintained by paying any price.
The world is watching with interest, whether justice is done in the case of Babri Masjid and finally history will decide the enormity of the crime of the perpetrators. And lastly God will decide the fate of the denigrators of the house of God – those who divided the people and incited them to violence and bloodshed. There may be delay in this but we are sure there would not be injustice.