The following is the chronology of events related to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in which, after the Supreme Court verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday conducted the 'Bhoomi Pujan' or ground breaking ceremony and laid the foundation stone for the temple's construction.
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.
Facing criticism over his remarks on Babri mosque issue, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Saturday said he never tried to equate the demolition of the shrine with 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has too decided against observing the 27th anniversary of the demolition as "Shaurya Diwas".
The Babri mosque issue on Thursday rocked the Lok Sabha with some members demanding action on the report of Liberhan Commission which probed its demolition 20 years ago.
The Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by karsevaks on December 6, 1992.
No member of the Congress' first family has visited Ayodhya since the demolition of the Babri Masjid 24 years ago, in December 1992.
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.
The hearing in the Babri masjid demolition case was on Tuesday deferred as the notification for nomination of a judge is still to be issued by the Allahabad high court. "The matter was not taken up today as a notification regarding nomination of magistrate is yet to be issued by the high court," prosecution sources said
Singh, who was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh when the 16th-century structure was razed on December 6 in 1992, was first taken in judicial custody by the court after he appeared before it in response to the summons in the demolition case.
It is not immediately clear if they have to be present in court or can appear through a video conference due to restrictions imposed to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Muslim groups observed 'day of sorrow' while Hindu outfits celebrated 'shaurya divas' on the 23rd anniversary of Babri mosque demolition on Sunday, which passed off peacefully amid tight security in Ayodhya, as well as in other parts of the country.
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.
Here are the key figures among the 32 accused in the Babri mosque demolition case who were on Wednesday acquitted by a special CBI court in Lucknow of all charges.
The special court is hearing the 1992 demolition cases, including the one against BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti.
'...to think apna time aa gaya after the 2024 election.'
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has lashed out at Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, accusing him of trying to evoke Muslim sentiments on the controversial Babri Masjid demolition issue, to garner votes.
The Congress on Monday gave a clean chit to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and spiritual preacher Deoraha Baba, whose names figure in the list of those found culpable by the Liberhan Commission, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. "Vajpayee's name was not in the conspiracy (to demolish Babri mosque). His name was only in one of the lists," Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.
The government said it was possible that some misdirected elements may wish to disturb communal peace and harmony on the eve of December 6, the day when the Babri masjid was demolished in Ayodhya 17 years ago.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have announced that they will mark the day as Shaurya Diwas and Vijay Diwas (day of victory) and have asked the people to light earthen lamps as on Diwali.
A generation has passed and the demolition appears to be a story of a era gone by, says Rediff.com's Sharat Pradhan, who shares his experience as a witness in court in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
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.
The former finance minister said he would not brush aside the incident as a mere judgemental error.
The Waqf Board has sought time from the top court for setting up of a committee for exploring an amicable resolution of the vexatious issue.
The Uttar Pradesh government also said the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao was 'indirectly' involved in it.
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 appearance of idols of deities inside Babri was not a miracle. It was a planned and surreptitious attack to put them on the intervening night of December 22-23, 1949'
New BJP President L K Advani could not attend due to other urgent engagements
Seventeen years after the Babri Masjid was pulled down, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said there was no question for the Sangh to regret for what had happened and maintained that their full support to the "Ram temple movement" would continue.
A bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman asked all the parties in the case to file their written arguments by April 6 and posted the matter for further hearing on April 7.
Amidst tight security, the 20th anniversary of Babri Mosque demolition is being observed on Thursday in the twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad as "black day" and "shaurya diwas" by Muslim and Hindu outfits respectively.
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
Renowned documentary film maker Anand Patwardhan said the video sharing website is "catering to Hindutva goons who want to kill all secular content."
On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress clashed over the findings of the Liberhan Commission, which is believed to have indicted senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and M M Joshi, among others, for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
Terming demolition of Babri Masjid as an act of religious fanaticism and extreme prejudice, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said communalism in all its forms was deplorable and asserted that it was the duty of the majority community to protect the minorities.
On the twentieth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya by a mob of enraged kar sevaks, it might appear that the dispute about the birthplace of Rama is a thing of the past.
Babri has in the past also worked with some players helping them understand how to handle pressure situations and get through bad performances and personal issues.
Here is the chronology of events in the Ayodhya Ram temple issue.
