Babri Masjid demolition BJP hails 'Shaurya Diwas' row over construction of mosque in Bengal

     Ayodhya/Baharampur, Dec 6 (PTI) The anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 was hailed as 'Shaurya Diwas' by the BJP on Saturday, even as the day saw a fresh wave of political tensions in poll-bound West Bengal with an MLA laying the foundation of a 'Babri Masjid-style' mosque in Murshidabad.
     Just like the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the killings of Sikhs after the shooting of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the demolition on December 6 is a "black day", AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said in Hyderabad, adding a "wound" was inflicted 33 years ago when the Babri mosque "was made shaheed (martyred)" and the Constitution and rule of law were weakened.
     Addressing an event in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said it was an important day as a "stain (kalank) was removed and heritage (virasat) was restored" with the demolition of the "disputed structure".
     "On Shaurya Diwas, we pay our heartfelt tribute to the Sanatani heroes who paved the way for the cultural revival of the country by sacrificing their lives in the Shri Ram Temple movement," the BJP wrote on its X handle. It also shared a video of clips from the Ram temple movement.
     The messages were posted on official X handles of various BJP state units including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
     Several BJP leaders from different states also shared them and paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives during the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement.
     Hundreds of 'karsevaks' had, on December 6, 1992, brought down the 16th-century Babri mosque in Ayodhya, which Hindu outfits claimed was built on a temple at the birthplace of Lord Rama.
     VHP and other Hindu outfits have, over the years, marked the day as Shaurya Diwas (Valour Day), while Muslim outfits observed it as 'Black Day' or 'Youm-e-Gham' (Day of Sorrow).
     In a landmark 2019 verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi unanimously allowed the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, granting the entire 2.77-acre plot for the temple and allotting a five-acre plot for the construction of a mosque.
     Ayodhya remained under an extensive security blanket on Saturday, with no organised political or religious mobilisations -- a sharp contrast to earlier years when rival groups marked the day with symbolic demonstrations.
     "December 6 is always a sensitive date for Ayodhya. This year, we are ensuring no breach of peace or security," said Superintendent of Police (City) Chakrapani Tripathi.
     He said that strict directives had been issued prohibiting public gatherings or rallies, while hotels had been asked to maintain detailed visitors' records.
     Meanwhile, the five-acre plot allotted by the Supreme Court to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for building a mosque remains barren. The Ayodhya Development Authority had rejected the initial plan submitted for the proposed mosque, and no revised map has since been filed.
     “If all fits in place, and of course, subject to the Ayodhya Development Authority’s (ADA) approval of the revised layout plan of the mosque that we hope to submit by December-end, a tentative timeline of the mosque project rollout could be around April 2026,” Zufar Faruqi, chairman of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), which will undertake the construction of the mosque-complex project, told PTI.
     In West Bengal, suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir laid the foundation stone for a mosque he claimed was modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid at Rejinagar in Murshidabad district amid unprecedented security.
     "Thirty-three years ago, a deep wound was inflicted on the hearts of Muslims. Today, we are applying a small balm to that wound," he said, adding that he had received threats for announcing the mosque.
     Kabir, speaking from a sprawling stage set nearly a kilometre away from the proposed mosque site, cut a ceremonial ribbon with visiting clerics as chants of "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar" rolled across the grounds filled with thousands of supporters carrying symbolic bricks.
     "There is nothing unconstitutional about this. Building a place of worship is a constitutional right. Babri Masjid will be built," Kabir said, claiming four lakh people attended the event.
     Clerics from Saudi Arabia shared the dais as Quranic verses played over loudspeakers.
     Not far away, BJP leader Sakharav Sarkar laid the foundation stone for a Ram temple in Banjatiya's Manindra Nagar in Baharampur, using the occasion to target the chief minister.
     "This Babri mosque is not just Humayun Kabir's project. The state administration and the TMC are involved," he alleged.
     Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said that "the seed of Mughal-Pathan politics had been sown in Murshidabad today," adding that naming the mosque after an "invader" was an insult. "Babur represents tyranny and destruction. Supporting this is playing with fire," he said.
     Adhikari was speaking during a 'Shaurya Yatra' in north Kolkata to commemorate the demolition of Babri Masjid. The procession, organised by 'Singha Bahini', saw monks and participants brandishing tridents and raising slogans for Hindu unity.
     Senior TMC leaders alleged the suspended MLA was "on the payroll of the BJP" and functioning as its agent to provoke unrest.
     The Congress accused both the TMC and the BJP of exploiting religious anxieties in a district that has historically seen communal tension. Hundreds of Congress workers in Kolkata held a 'Sadbhawna Rally' from a mosque to a temple.
     "Temples and mosques will not give people jobs or food. Politics of division must stop," state Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar said.
     In Hyderabad, AIMIM president Owaisi on Saturday took exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent comments in Ayodhya that centuries-old wounds were healing.
     The wound is that on December 6, 1992, the "Babri mosque was made shaheed (martyr)" and that the Constitution and rule of law were weakened, he said.
     PM Modi on November 25 hoisted the saffron Dharma Dhwaj atop the Ram temple in Ayodhya, marking its formal completion, and said the "wounds and pain of centuries" were healing as a 500-year-old resolve had finally been fulfilled.
     Responding to queries at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath said that laying of the foundation of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, its construction and the recent hoisting of the "Dharamdhwaj" were "important moments" in his life.
     "We are grateful to the Supreme Court, which gave a unanimous judgment after going through the facts and evidence presented. This is the biggest victory of India's democracy, that everybody accepted the judgment of the Supreme Court," he said.
     Adityanath also said, "Today (December 6) is extremely important as the disputed structure was removed. Naturally, a 'kalank' (stain) was removed and heritage was restored." PTI PK PNT SUS BDC PNT CDN NAV MAN SJR RT
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)