New Delhi: The Ayodhya dispute has existed almost as long as independent India itself. The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhumi dispute is a religious and political conflict. The groups of Hindu organization claim that mosque was built after demolishing the temple and also the site to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity i.e. Ram whereas Muslim claims that the mosque was never built after the demolition of the temples.
The legal battle between Hindus and Muslims in Ayodhya began in 1949 as a title dispute. By the 1980s, the case had shot to the center stage, riding a wave of identity politics. In the early 1990s, the dispute gained popular support and took the shape of a movement, which culminated in the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
The political leadership shifted the matter into the courts' realm. But the cases have been dragging for 25 years. In 2010, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court delivered a judgment, but the parties involved appealed against it in the Supreme Court.
On 6 December 1992, the VHP and the BJP organized a rally at the site involving 150,000 volunteers, known as kar sevaks. The rally turned violent, and the crowd overwhelmed security forces and tore down the mosque.