Saryu Mata (the Holy river in Ayodhya) bears witness to the events and incidents of Ramayana in the Treta Yug to the reclamation of the Bhavya Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in the present day. She was the source for Bhagwan Ram, a reincarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu, and his devotees in Ayodhya to return to Vishnu Ji’s abode Vaikunth Dham.
On 2nd November 1990, once again, albeit in shocking circumstances, the souls of Shri Ram’s devotees departed for Vaikunth right from the banks of Saryu. The Mulayam Singh-led UP Police had opened fire on a large group of kar sevaks who had come to Ayodhya to demand that the Babri structure be demolished and Ram Mandir be reconstructed.
The Kothari brothers – Ram (23) and Sharad (20) Kothari – were the first ones to mount a Saffron flag atop the Babri controversial structure. A report filed on 3rd November 1990 in Jansatta said that an unidentified kar sevak from Sriganganagar, Rajasthan fell after being shot and as he fell, he wrote “Sitaram” on the road with his blood.
It remains a mystery whether the Karsevak had written his name or was his devotion and adherence towards Lord Ram that made him write “Sitaram” in his own blood.
The report mentioned that even after Karsevak fell to the ground, the CRPF personnel shot seven bullets into his skull.
As per official figures, 16 kar sevaks were killed in cold blood. But actual numbers are believed to be much higher. Their only crime was that they staged peaceful demonstrations by expressing their religious reverence and singing bhajans.
Little did they know that their act would send a wave across the country that would come right back to hit that very spot on 6th December 1992 for nothing and no one could soil the spirit of Ram Bhakts.
25 months later, on 6th December 1992, Hindus reminded the world once again that they hadn’t remotely been deterred in their fight for divine justice.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad organised a kar seva in Ayodhya in 1992 and an area was marked for worship on 6th December. Kar sevaks from across the country began to pour into Ayodhya in large numbers even as security personnel were deployed in equally large numbers.
According to Mahant Brajmohan Das, who witnessed the demolition of the Babri structure on 6th December 1992, the birthplace of Shri Ram was filled with joy and enthusiasm. “Only those who were present in Ayodhya on that day can explain what God’s miracles and powers are,” he said.
All arrangements including food, accommodation et cetera were made for thousands of devotees. “There seemed to be complete Ram Rajya in Ayodhya,” he said. Despite what ensued in 1990, the number of karsevaks visiting Ayodhya in 1992 and security personnel deployed was so large that the Mahant said that if the massacre was repeated, no one would come out alive.
Finally, on 6th December 1992, a kar sevak entered an empty bus belonging to the security forces near Hanumangarhi and raced it towards the Babri structure shattering all barricades and paving the way for kar sevaks who followed.
Call it divine intervention, the symbol of tyranny, savagery and bigotry was razed to dust that day; this formed the cornerstone of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Kar sevaks cut the barbed wire barricading the Babri structure and climbed atop it.
The three worn-out tombs of the Babri structure were brought down in less than 6 hours amid Holy chants of Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram. This was the first line of treatment for the wounded Hindu civilisation, all thanks and namans (bowing down) to the kar sevaks who risked their lives once again.
Documentaries were made by the mainstream media to blot the image of kar sevaks, nat up sounds of Jai Shri Ram were played by the ecosystem of the day to push a narrative to demonise the Holy chant.
Even as the Hindus, the kar sevaks removed the Babri structure from the face of the earth – as should be the case with every symbol of adharma (roughly translating to injustice) – we paid the price for it in the war of narratives that were to come.
Hindus displayed to the world that when justice is delayed and denied when a civilisation seeking justice is brutalised and demonised, we will come to our own defence.
Come to think of it, our patience knows no bounds but when we are pushed to the edge and tested, we end adharma once and for all – be it slaying Ravan in Treta Yug, demolishing Babur’s Babri structure in 1992 or bulldozing the mafia to the ground today.
31 years on, every year on this day a certain ecosystem mourns the physical death of Babri structure while the civilisational wounds of a devout Hindu continue to be healed. On 22nd January 2024, Ram Lalla’s Pran Pratishtha will be performed and He will finally be resting comfortably watching over us from His Bhavya Mandir.
On 6th December 2023, we must remember and celebrate the men and women across the nation who enabled this movement and reignited hope in Hindus. They taught us that bullets and barricades can’t kill our souls. We must dare to demolish injustice to the ground every time it pops its ugly face and pave the way for justice.
