RAM TEMPLE :-AYODHYA’S JOURNEY: A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS FROM BABRI MASJID TO RAM MANDIR

The Rath Yatra launched by LK Advani in September 1990 further fuelled the movement. In 1991, a young and determined Modi, true to his vow, committed to the return of the Ram Mandir, adding momentum to the cause. On December 6, 1992, the Babri Masjid was demolished by a group of kar sevaks,(volonteers) from different parts of India marking a culmination of events associated with the BJP’s Rath Yatra. The incident triggered widespread Hindu- Muslim clashes, resulting in the unfortunate loss of around 2,000 lives across India. In the aftermath, the government acquired the land through the Acquisition of Certain Areas at Ayodhya Act, 1993. The Ismail Faruqui Judgment upheld the constitutionality of the act, although criticized for considering the mosque as a non-essential place of worship.

The Ayodhya Title Dispute case began in April 2002, and from March to August 2003, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated the disputed site, found remnants of a 10th-century Hindu temple. The legal journey reached its zenith on November 9, when the Supreme Court awarded the disputed land to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust for the construction of the Ram Mandir and instructed the government to provide an alternate site to the Sunni Waqf Board for a mosque in Ayodhya.