The Demolition and the Verdict Ayodhya and the Project to Reconfigure India

Description

The Ram temple issue has been at the epicentre of Indian politics since the mid

1980s. The question-'mandir or masjid'- dominated political discourse without

an apparent resolution - until the Supreme Court delivered its judgement on 9

November 2019. The 5-member bench in a unanimous verdict gave the ownership

of the 2.77 acres of disputed land to the Ram Janmabhoomi trust, and ordered it

to build a temple on the site. Though an alternative five acres of land was awarded

to the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board to build a mosque to replace the demolished

masjid, the scales were clearly tilted in favour of the Hindu petitioners, and as many

commentators noted, the judges had in effect legitimized what they themselves had

called a 'criminal act'.

This unprecedented, comprehensive book looks at the key moments in the Ram

Janmabhoomi agitation, from the events of 1949, Rajiv Gandhi's 'unlocking of the

gates' in 1986, L K Advani's Rath Yatra in 1990, the demolition of the masjid in

1992, culminating in an in-depth analysis of the 9 November judgement. It gives an

objective analysis of the core issue: was the mosque actually built by Babur, and did

there exist a Ram temple?

More importantly, the book examines how the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation

propelled the BJP from being a marginal political party into becoming the dominant

political force today. Mukhopadhyay analyses how politics over the Ram temple

secured support for the militant Hindu nationalistic idea and assesses the road ahead

for India and the long-term implications of the imminent construction of the Ram

temple.