Mediation of Ayodhya Dispute

Ayodhya dispute is one of the longest political disputes that has taken place in India, dating back for over a century.  The dispute was started in 1528, and the major cause of the case lies in a plot of land in the birthplace of the Hindu god, Ram, which is Ayodhya, situated in Uttar Pradesh. Over time, a series of incidents related to the case took place, all of which had a significant impact on the dispute. As this Ayodhya case got to the notice, the court and government tried to intervene and do mediation which failed a lot of times. Finally, this socio-religious debate was concluded with a final verdict by the Supreme Court in 2019.

Starting of the Dispute

The Ayodhya case dates back to 1528, when a conflict arose upon the building of Babri Masjid by Mir Baqi, who was the commander of Babar. It was certainly believed by the Hindu localities there that this Masjid was built after destroying their lord Ram’s Ayodhya temple, which was in its place. 

This conflict further resulted in riots between the Hindu and Muslim parties from 1853 to 1859. To control this, a mediation was done by the British government wherein they divided the plot into two parts through a fence. The inside area was allotted to the Muslims, and the outside area of the plot was allotted to the Hindus. 

Post-independence Developments and Mediations in the Case

This Ayodhya case took a sharp turn post-independence in December 1949 when the deity of Hindu Lord Ram was found in the main part of the Masjid. This enraged the Muslims, and they allegedly blamed the Hindus for having placed it there. As the situation worsened, the government declared a ban on the whole area, restricting both the parties from going inside. Simultaneously, many civil cases get filed by both parties to remove the ban and get total possession of the area.

The mediation by various civil courts led to more tension in this case. For instance, the Faizabad Court gave a verdict in 1986 that Hindus are permitted to worship the deity of their Lord Ram inside the area, which enraged the Muslims, and they started making their committees and filing cases demanding possession of the area and avoiding Ayodhya temple being built.

Another Significant Turning Point in the Case

There was a significant impact on the Ayodhya Ram Mandir history and this case when kar Sevak moved to Ayodhya in December 1992. This kar Sevak destroyed and demolished the Babri Masjid built there and built a temporary Ram Mandir in its place. This incident led to severe consequences because the Muslims got enraged, and riots took place all over the country.  

For investigation and mediation of this incident, the Liberhan Committee was appointed. The Congress party in power proposed a solution to build both Masjid and temple and a library and museum to solve this Ayodhya case. But this solution received a rejection from the opposition parties, and thus, it was not implemented.

Further Developments and Mediations

With this Ayodhya case turning longer and longer, the BJP government decided to find a solution in 2002. It took assistance from ASI to furnish themselves with the exact facts. As it came to their knowledge that there was a Ram Mandir in that place, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High court gave a verdict in 2010. They proposed that the plot be divided into three parts to satisfy all the three committees made by both Hindus and Muslims. But this led to more tensions due to which Supreme Court declaring that the judgement would be taken back in 2011.

Final Mediation and Results

The Supreme Court-appointed, a mediation panel to solve this complicated Ayodhya case. After submitting a final report by this mediation panel, the Supreme Court holds hearings for almost 40 days to come to a final solution. 

The final solution proposed by the Supreme court was that the 2.77-acre plot in Ayodhya, where Babri Masjid was built, would be given over to Ram Lalla Virajman, and a separate plot of 5 acres of land would be given to Sunni Waqf Board through the central or state government. With this final verdict, the Supreme Court closed the Ayodhya case by trying to satisfy both Hindu and Muslim parties.

Conclusion

The Ayodhya case has been one of the most complicated socio-political cases encountered by the Indian judiciary primarily due to the peculiar Ayodhya Ram Mandir history. The dispute lasted for over five decades. It was one of the cases for which the Supreme Court held hearings for this Ayodhya temple case for a very long time, primarily due to the sensitivity of the case and the involvement of Hindus and Muslims. After a long procedure, the Supreme Court gave the final verdict on 9th November 2019, closing this peculiar and complicated case by trying to satisfy both Hindu and Muslim parties.