Skip to main content

Public meeting marks 32nd anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition, exposes saffron fascist forces

By Harsh Thakor* 
On December 6, 2024, activists from numerous organizations gathered for a massive demonstration and public meeting to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition. The event, organized jointly by Lok Raj Sangathan and other groups, highlighted the ongoing struggle to bring the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice and resist communal violence fueled by divisive politics.
Participating organizations included the Social Democratic Party of India, Welfare Party of India, Communist Ghadar Party of India, Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, Lok Paksh, Citizens for Democracy, Students Islamic Organisation, Mazdoor Ekta Committee, Purogami Mahila Sangathan, The Sikh Forum, CPI (M-L) – New Proletarian, United Muslims Front, and others. Prominent speakers included S. Raghavan (Lok Raj Sangathan), Dr. Rais Uddin (Welfare Party of India), Mohammed Shafi (Social Democratic Party of India), Prakash Rao (Communist Ghadar Party of India), Dr. SQR Ilyas (All India Muslim Personal Law Board), and many more.
Speakers reflected on the demolition of the 16th-century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. Despite assurances by the Uttar Pradesh government to the Supreme Court to protect the mosque, karsevaks demolished it under the patronage of BJP leaders, including then-party president L.K. Advani. The Congress-led central government and police forces stood by helplessly.
The Lieberhan Commission, established to investigate the incident, took 17 years to deliver its report, holding 68 people, including prominent BJP leaders, accountable. Yet, in 2020, a Special CBI Court acquitted all the accused citing a "lack of evidence." The Srikrishna Commission further exposed the complicity of BJP, Congress, and Shiv Sena leaders in inciting communal violence. However, even after three decades, justice remains elusive.
The Supreme Court’s 2019 decision to award the disputed site for the construction of a Ram temple was viewed by many as legitimizing the illegal demolition. This campaign, driven by political motives, sought to deepen divisions between Hindus and Muslims, distracting the masses from pressing issues like unemployment and poverty.
The speakers also addressed ongoing attempts to create communal discord, such as the disputes over the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura. Recent incidents of police violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, against protestors opposing these divisive claims, resulted in at least four deaths, further highlighting the misuse of power to perpetuate communal tensions.
Speakers condemned the inaction against those responsible for the demolition and communal violence, emphasizing that the attack on Babri Masjid was an attack on justice-loving people of all communities. Declaring that "We, the people of India, oppose the destruction of any place of worship," they reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the universal right to conscience and religious freedom.
The gathering concluded with a unanimous resolution to persist in the fight for justice and demand accountability under the principle of command responsibility. Participants called for a society free of communal violence, where unity and equality prevail, and divisive politics has no place.
---
*Freelance journalist

Comments

TRENDING

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative   The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat*  As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative   A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey  visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification. 

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative   The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra*   It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By  A  Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.