The Islamic Invasion of India (1): Behind the Babri Mosque Dispute

(Writer's note: I have tried to write about this not once, nor twice, but many, many times and yet each and every single time I decided to withdraw.  It has always been, and I know will again be, a burden emotionally torturing and haunting, really.  This piece of history is full of cruelty beyond description, not only against the local faiths, but it was, in essence, cruelty against humanity.  People talk about the genocides in Germany and in Rwanda, the occupation of Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the colonization of the Americas, and the World Wars, but nobody talks about the invasion of India which was equivalent to the Holocaust to say the least.

But in the end, I feel the need to share with you this enormous yet largely unknown massacre, not to provoke or implant a feeling of revenge or anger, but to instill in our hearts that no matter how the teachings of Sanatana Dharma are abused, attacked, and twisted, the Truth will always prevail)

Just a couple of days ago, the Allahabad High Court in India delivered a verdict which supposedly woud lead to the end of a centuries-old dispute on the Babri Mosque of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India.  To the devotees, the verdict (splitting the area into three parts, two-third of which to Hindu groups) meant much more than just a matter of building a temple.  It was a very significant milestone to the ressurection of Hinduism in its own home, India.  

Babri Mosque prior to being demolished in 1992

Babri Mosque was built in 1528 on a land widely believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama, one of the Avatars (incarnations of God in Hinduism).  Not only that, but excavations carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India discovered remnants of a large Hindu temple complex under the site where the mosque now stands.  It cannot be confirmed whether the mosque was built on the remains or after demolishing the temple.  However, there are several points suggesting that the latter was the case:

• Up until at least 150 years ago, the surrounding area was largely uninhabited with no significant remnants of buildings around the mosque.  And yet, the Muslim viceroy (Mir Baqi) decided to build the mosque on that specific site (which is logically more difficult than building a new structure altogether),
• No less than 260 ancient Hindu artefacts, including a thick stone slab with Hindu inscriptions were found when the mosque was demolished in 1992,
• It has been recorded that under the ruling of Muslims, countless temples and other religious structures were demolished as being un-Islamic

Furthermore, the mosque used to be referred to as "Masjid-i-Janmasthan", meaning "the Mosque of the Birthplace".  Since there has been no other prominent figures believed to have been born there, this could not possibly refer to any other but Lord Rama Himself.

It is also worth noting that while the mosque is apparently of a unique architecture and design, the mosque holds no significance whatsoever to Muslims, apart from of course being a place of worship.  In fact, it was not in a maintained state when demolished by Hindu mob in 1992 (something I personally am against since it too was filled with brutality and angst).  But for Hindu devotees, the site holds an utmost importance being the birthplace of Lord Ram and the mosque if let standing, brings nothing but painful memories (as a point of note, the verdict is not final as it is currently being escalated to the Supreme Court).

For almost a millenium, Hindus have become victims in their own land and in the recent times, they have started losing their tendency to be purely defensive as they had been for centuries.  While a few Muslim leaders did maintain tolerance towards Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and alike during the time of invasion, the rest acted insensibly hostile.  For those who believe that Muslims have always behaved nicely when being a ruler, watch this space. 

(to be continued)