Statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, 2 December, 2023
On 6th December, 1992, a 16th century historical monument known as Babri Masjid was razed to the ground. Its destruction was part of a campaign to build a Ram temple at that site, based on a religious belief that it was the birth place of Shri Ram. It was preceded and followed by large-scale communal violence in which thousands of people died.
A historical monument was destroyed in broad daylight 31 years ago, in full view of the people. None of the principal organisers of this crime have been punished till today. The real nature and aim of this crime have been covered up by numerous official commissions of enquiry.
Till today, the destruction of Babri Masjid is presented in official accounts as a spontaneous act by a group of kar sevaks. The truth is that the demolition as well as the communal violence were part of a plot hatched up in the highest echelons of the ruling class.
While Congress Party accuses the BJP of being communal and BJP accuses the Congress of being pseudo secular, it is an indisputable fact that both these parties were responsible for the destruction of Babri Masjid and for the communal violence which preceded and followed it.
The Congress Party government headed by Rajiv Gandhi had overseen the unlocking of Babri Masjid in 1986 and the foundation laying ceremony for a Ram temple in 1989. BJP had launched a Rath Yatra from Somnath Temple to Ayodhya the following year. The entire country was enveloped by communal polarisation, through provocative speeches and communally targeted violence.
The overwhelming sentiment of the Indian people is not in favour of destroying any place of worship, irrespective of what may have taken place hundreds of years ago. Responding to this sentiment, the Parliament enacted a law in 1991 called the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act. It stipulated that the status of every place of worship must be maintained as it was when India gained independence on 15 August, 1947. However, it made an exception for Babri Masjid, thereby paving the way for advancing the communal campaign to destroy it and build a temple in its place.
The Congress Party was heading the central government in December 1992, while BJP was heading the Uttar Pradesh government. The security forces at their command did nothing to prevent the destruction of Babri Masjid. They stood by as it was demolished. The Congress Party, BJP and Shiv Sena were all identified by the Sri Krishna Commission as being guilty of organising communal violence during December 1992 and January 1993.
The collusion of Congress Party and BJP in bringing about the destruction of Babri Masjid shows that it was in the service of the ruling class. Its motive was political and not religious. It served to divide the people and divert them from their common enemy, the ruling bourgeois class. It served to keep public attention diverted while the ruling class pushed ahead with the anti-people program of globalisation, through liberalisation and privatisation.
The Liberhan Commission was formed ten days after the demolition, to identify those responsible and submit a report in three months. After 48 extensions, it finally submitted its report 17 years later, on 30 June, 2009. The report held 68 people guilty of planning and organising the demolition, including several leaders of BJP. However, a Special CBI Court acquitted all of them on 30 September, 2020, citing lack of evidence.
While none of those guilty of the demolition were punished, the Supreme Court heard a case involving a dispute over the ownership of the land on which Babri Masjid had stood. It decided in November 2019 to hand over that land for building a Ram Temple. While admitting that there was no evidence that a temple had been demolished to build the Masjid, the Supreme Court sought to justify its decision in the name of respecting people’s beliefs.
It is to be noted that numerous old and new disputes on places of worship have been incited in recent years, with the support of the judiciary. Claims that the ancient Gyan Vapi Mosque in Varanasi was built after demolishing a temple are being heard in the courts. Courts are hearing petitions claiming that the Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura is built on the very place where Krishna was born. In Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and other states of India, claims that mosques had been built by destroying temples are being heard in the courts. The Archeological Survey of India has been pressed into service to gather evidence for such claims.
The people of India have nothing to gain and much to lose by supporting calls for the destruction of any old mosque which was allegedly built after demolishing a temple. Such acts of revenge only serve to spread hatred and enmity between people of different religious faiths. They serve to destroy the unity of workers and peasants against the exploitative and oppressive rule of the bourgeoisie.
The main struggle in the country is between the bourgeoisie headed by the monopoly capitalists on one side, and the vast majority of exploited and oppressed people on the other side. Exacerbating divisions on the basis of religion is part of the method of rule of the bourgeoisie.
In order to put an end to communalism and communal violence, it is necessary to dislodge the bourgeoisie from power. The immediate task facing all progressive forces is to build and strengthen the political unity of people against the ruling bourgeoisie, against its trusted parties and their divisive politics.
The struggle against communalism and communal violence must be waged with the aim of replacing the existing state of bourgeois rule by a new state of workers’ and peasants’ rule. We need a state that will protect the lives and rights of all human beings, without exception, and severely punish those who violate any human right.