The Uttar Pradesh police opened fire at civilians because they were heading to demolish the

Babri Masjid The Babri Masjid (ISO: Bābarī Masjida; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque located in Ayodhya, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was claimed that the mosque was built upon the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace ...

on two separate days, 30October 1990 and 2November 1990, in the aftermath of the

Ram Rath Yatra The ''Ram Rath Yatra'' was a political and religious rally that lasted from September to October 1990. It was organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindu nationalist affiliates, and led by the then-president of the BJP, L. K ...

. The civilians were religious volunteers, or ''

kar sevak Kar or KAR may refer to: * .kar, a file format for karaoke files * Kar, Iran, in Kurdistan Province * ''Kar'' (beetle), a genus of beetles * Car (Greek myth) * ''Kar'' (novel), 2002, by Orhan Pamuk * Kar (political group), a former faction in ...

s'', assembled near the

Ram Janmabhoomi Ram Janmabhoomi () is the site that, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is the birthplace of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu rive ...

site at

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

. The state government's official records report that at least 17 people were killed.

Background

In September 1990,

Vishwa Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to orga ...

(VHP),

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS), and the

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...

started an official campaign for the Ram Temple to be rebuilt at the Ram Janmabhoomi site. The situation became volatile, with

L. K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sa ...

conducting ''

rath yatra Ratha Yatra (), or chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. They are held annually during festivals in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The term also refers to the popular annual Ratha Yatra of Puri that involves a public processi ...

'' and the VHP mobilizing people to the site. The state government, under

Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialism, socialist figure and founder of the Samajwadi Party. Over the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three t ...

, promised protection and a complete lockdown of the site and city. Yadav reassured the public: "No bird would be able to fly into Ayodhya".

Timeline

21 October 1990

Volunteers, or '' kar sevaks'', first assembled in

at the behest of L. K. Advani of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and Ashok Singhal of the VHP, on 21October 1990.

30 October 1990

Called "the D-Day of Karseva", 30October saw the start of unprecedented security arrangements. Police barred all bus and train services to Ayodhya. Most ''kar sevaks'' reached Ayodhya by foot; some swam across the Sarayu river. The police also barricaded the 1.5 km-long climb to the disputed structure and imposed a curfew. According to the investigatory Liberhan Commission report, issued after the event: * 28,000 Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel were deployed in

* Out of 40,000 ''kar sevaks'', only 10,000 managed to reach Ayodhya At around 10am, a large group of ''kar sevaks'' headed towards the site, led by Vamadev,

Mahant Mahant () is a religious superior, in particular the chief of a temple or the head of a monastery in Indian religions. James Mallinson, one of the few westerners to be named as a mahant, describes the position of a mahant as a combination of an ...

Nritya Gopal Das, and Ashok Singhal of the VHP. Ashok Singhal was wounded on the head by a police baton. This altercation led to a mob frenzy and open confrontation between civilians and police officers. At around 11am, a Hindu holyman or ''

sadhu ''Sadhu'' (, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female), also spelled ''saddhu'') is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively ...

'' managed to gain control of an Armed Constabulary bus in which the police were holding detainees. The ''sadhu'' drove the bus right through the barricades, clearing a way for the others to follow on foot. The security forces were caught off guard and were forced to chase about 5,000 ''kar sevaks'', who stormed through the heavily guarded site. According to eyewitnesses the Kothari brothers mounted a saffron flag atop the

1 November 1990

Hindu groups took a day to cremate and pay homage to the lives lost on 1November.

2 November 1990

Assembled ''kar sevaks'' offered prayers (Pooja) at

Ramlila Ramlila or Ramleela (; literally 'Rama's lila or play') is any dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' or secondary literature based on it such as the '' Ramcharitmanas''. It particular ...

on the morning of 2November and then proceeded to

. Members of the crowd used the strategy of touching security personnel's feet, which made them withdraw a step. This worked for a while, and the procession continued. However, the police took firm action by using

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

and baton charges to disperse the crowd. Nevertheless, some contingents of ''kar sevaks'' reached and partially damaged the mosque.

Aftermath

News of the shootings was mostly suppressed from the

Indian media Mass media in India consists of several different means of communication: television, radio, internet, cinema, newspapers and magazines. Indian media was active since the late 18th century; the print media started in India as early as 1780. R ...

, but some local and international media outlets mentioned them. The firing incident had a significant impact on Uttar Pradesh and on Indian national politics. The

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is the head of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minis ...

was given the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

'Mulla' Mulayam Singh for his stance during the incident. He lost the 1991 election to the

. After that, in the 4 December 1993 election, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with the help of Kanshiram. he described his decision to fire on the crowd in Ayodhya as "painful yet necessary as it was ordered by the high court to maintain peace, law and order till the judgement come out." People of the Hindu community arranged a memorial meeting for the dead Karsevaks on April4, 1991, at the Boat Club, New Delhi, which attracted a large audience. They also launched a nationwide awareness program displaying the ''Asthi Kalash'' (funeral urns) of those who died in the firing incident. In the following years, these organizations and their prominent leaders received both political and moral endorsement. On6 December 1992, a large group of ''kar sevaks'' completely demolished Babri Masjid.

References

{{Faizabad division topics Ayodhya dispute Vishva Hindu Parishad 1990 in India 1990s in Uttar Pradesh Deaths by firearm in India Anti-Hindu violence in India