'What is at stake is not one mosque or temple, it is the question of the principle of secularism which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution as declared even by the Supreme Court of India.'
The Uttar Pradesh government also said the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao was 'indirectly' involved in it.
Kalyan Singh's apology over the Babri masjid demolition, thus, is expected to assuage the Samajwadi Party's rank and file who have been upset over Yadav joining hands with him. Kalyan Singh, who subsequently left the BJP to plow a lonely furrow only to rejoin the party and again left it recently over being sidelined, has since been edging closer to the Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh.
In an interview, he recalled how Hashim Ansari, one of the original litigants in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, took him to the mosque on his bicycle.
Though religion is no longer the hot topic, the government should be on its guard
Das served as the head priest since he was 20 years old, including during the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
The term of the Commission, set up almost soon after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, has now been extended till December 31
Challenging the verdict is a deterrent to future peace and harmony and a socially irresponsible act, argues Vivek Gumaste.
The IUML is a major ally of the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala and an influential political party among the Muslim community.
Samajwadi Party leader and Kairana MP Iqra Choudhary has moved the Supreme Court seeking effective implementation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This move comes amidst several petitions challenging the law's validity, including those filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay. The Supreme Court, in December 2022, had restrained all courts from examining fresh suits and passing interim orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places. The Act aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, but the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview. The court has listed Choudhary's plea with other pending pleas for February 17.
On the eve of Babri mosque demolition anniversary, Uttar Pradesh government on Friday enhanced the security of Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the case, by providing him a Y category security cover.
It accused the then chief minister Kalyan Singh of not deploying sufficient forces to protect the Babri masjid.
Every corner of the town has a police personnel standing while various security teams such as bomb disposal squads have been deployed.
Mani Shankar Aiyar says the Congress party and not then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was responsible for unlocking the Babri Masjid gates and claimed that the "Bharatiya Janata Party-planted" Arun Nehru was behind it.
Nazir Ahmed Wani, the main accused in the 1993 Deoband bomb blasts, has been arrested in Srinagar after evading capture for 31 years. Wani, wanted for his involvement in the bomb attacks, was arrested by a joint operation of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and local police. The blasts occurred during communal violence in Deoband following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Owaisi said the CBI should appeal against the judgment "to protect its independence."
The Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) demanded the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Centre to move applications in the Allahabad High Court for daily hearing to expedite trial and judgement in the mosque demolition case.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar also indicated that it may not take up the pending scheduled petitions, heard earlier by a three-judge bench, during the day as it was sitting in a combination of two judges.
'Today, the situation in the country is bad.' 'The distance between Hindus and Muslims is increasing.' 'If an out-of-court settlement is reached, then a cordial atmosphere will prevail in the country.'
The Allahabad high court will hear Wednesday a plea against the acquittal of all 32 accused, including Bharatiya Janata Party veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, in the Babri mosque demolition case.
Following is the chronology of events in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Monday said there was 'nothing wrong' in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to his residence on Ganpati Puja and underscored the need for a 'sense of maturity in political sphere' on such issues.
The Opposition's stand on the Ayodhya consecration is puzzling. Their only objection seems to be that the BJP has hijacked a religious event for political benefit. In saying this, the Opposition is either being naive or hypocritical, argues Jyoti Punwani.
The much-awaited verdict on the title suit of the disputed site at Ayodhya will be pronounced on September 24 by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court.The long pending case is about the ownership of the Ayodhya land to which Hindus and Muslims had been making rival claims over the past one and a quarter century.While Hindus claimed the land to be the site of the birthplace of their most revered Lord Ram, Muslims asserted their right over the same.
The former finance minister said he would not brush aside the incident as a mere judgemental error.
Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi have challenged the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Supreme Court, arguing that it violates constitutional provisions. The petitions claim the bill imposes arbitrary restrictions on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community. They also allege that the bill discriminates against Muslims by imposing restrictions not present in the governance of other religious endowments. The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, with the petitioners arguing that it introduces limitations on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one's religious practice, mandates inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf administrative bodies, and shifts key administrative functions to government officials, thereby diluting the autonomy of Waqf management.
All 32 accused in the 28-year-old Babri demolition case, including BJP's founder-members LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, have been acquitted by a special CBI court in Lucknow.
Questioning the timing of a 'sting' operation on the Babri Masjid demolition, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday alleged that it was "sponsored", accusing the Congress of using "pawns" to vitiate the atmosphere before elections and asked the Election Commission to stop its publication and telecast.
No member of the Congress' first family has visited Ayodhya since the demolition of the Babri Masjid 24 years ago, in December 1992.
The court also observed that late Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal wanted to save the structure because Ram idols were inside.
The 15th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid cast its shadow on Parliament on Thursday with both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha disrupted throughout the day.
Shiv Sena executive pPresident Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday appealed to party activists to maintain peace on September 24, when the controversial Babri Masjid verdict is expected."The Sainiks have been instructed to maintain peace after the Babri-Ayodhya verdict and we will cooperate with the government," Uddhav said after he met party leaders to discuss the issue.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
'Rather than assuaging the feelings of the Hindus accommodated in schools and hospitals, she calls a meeting of imams and tries to assuage them.'
With the 30th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and 65th death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar falling on December 6, the Mumbai police as a precautionary measure has announced prohibitory orders in Mumbai as part of its standard procedure from December 2 till January 2, 2023.
Patil revealed that CM Shinde called him on Tuesday morning after his remarks caused a row and asked him to clarify.
Even as the 19th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on Tuesday remained a non-event, what came as a pleasant surprise was the message of peace and communal amity from none other than Babri Masjid Action Committee.
'You can see both being used in our textbooks already and that will continue in new textbooks'
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