Ayodhya dispute - The Hindu narrative

Ayodhya Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute -  

The Hindu narrative

 

The complex legal matter has left many a bit confused as to what narrative was put forth by each side. IndiaToday.in will try to break both the narratives - by Hindu and the Muslim sides - into simpler points to make them more comprehensible for an average reader.

Prabhash K Dutta 

New Delhi

October 18, 2019

UPDATED: October 19, 2019 13:06 IST

During the hearing of the Ayodhya case in the Supreme Court, the Hindu side claimed title right over the disputed site. (File photo: Reuters)

The Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case of Ayodhya is a verdict away from its legal conclusion. Arguments spanning 40 days in the Supreme Court have been closed. The five judges of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi will now apply their minds and pronounce their concurrent or divergent judgments.

Technically, tools of review and curative petitions by any of the affected parties will be available for exploration. But the decades-long litigation in Ayodhya Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute will come to an end.

The complex legal matter has left many a bit confused as to what narrative was put forth by each side. IndiaToday.in will try to break both the narratives - by Hindu and the Muslim sides - into simpler points to make them more comprehensible for an average reader. In the first part of the series is the Hindu narrative of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute. (Read the second part, looking at the arguments of the Muslim side here)

The Hindu side - represented by seven parties - claimed title right over the disputed land in Ayodhya. The crux of their argument was that there was a temple dedicated to the birthplace of Lord Ram before Babri Masjid was erected during the medieval times.

The Hindu side rejects the claim that the Ayodhya site was disputed for very long. They argued that the Janmasthan (the place where Lord Ram is believed to have been born) came in dispute during Mughal period when a mosque was constructed at the spot.

However, the Hindu parties offer differing narratives of when the mosque was constructed. According to one view agreeing with the Muslims, the mosque was constructed by Mir Baqi. The other version claims that the mosque was constructed during the reign of Aurangzeb in the 17th century.

There is a third claim that there was no mosque at the Janmasthan till 1717. The supporters of this view refer to a map of the Janmasthan.

Circulated widely over social media platforms, this map is a sketch purportedly drawn in early 18th century when Sawai Jai Singh was a high-ranking noble in the Mughal darbar.

For record, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb died in 1707. It was Aurangzeb who had given Jai Singh II the title of Sawai in 1699 for his service as a Mughal vassal. Under later Mughals, Sawai Jaisingh broke free.

Sawai Jai Singh is said to have purchased the land surrounding the Janmasthan and got the map of the place drawn. This map is placed in the City Palace Museum of Jaipur - as part of the Kapad-Dwar collection.

The map shows three dome-like structures, which the Hindu side claims to be shikhar or spires of the temple dedicated to Lord Ram at the Janmasthan.

The map shows a courtyard that is labelled as Janmasthan and depicts a raised platform, purportedly the Ram Chabutra.

The Hindu side points to the central bay of three-dome structure which is labelled as Chhathi (that is, sixth) saying that the labeling denotes the Janmasthan. Chhathi also denotes to a traditional ritual - one of essential samskars (ceremony) in Hindu belief -- performed on the sixth day of a child's birth.

They claim that when mosque was constructed after the capture of the Janmasthan, the Hindus were prohibited from entering the spot marked as Chhathi.

Later, they built the Chabutara in front of the main structure and placed an idol of Lord Ram for worship. According to this version of Hindu story of Ram Janmabhoomi, the devotees performed pradakshinas (circumambulation) of the Chabutara.

This is the same idol that is said to have been placed by Hindus inside the Babri Mosque in 1949 when the matter flared up and led to a series of litigations culminating in the Supreme Court.

To prove their point, the Hindu side points to the other name of the Babri Masjid, that is, Masjid-e-Janmasthan. This series of arguments formed the basis for the Hindu parties led by Nirmohi Akhara to file title suit of the disputed land in Ayodhya.