Over the years, a lot of people have contributed to the Ram Temple “movement” and the events that led to the demolition of the structure. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who motivated and reminded thousands of Hindus to reclaim their rights.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a speech on the 5th of December, 1992 when the movement was reaching its peak. The speech was fiery as he addressed thousands of Hindus at the Jhandewala Park in Lucknow. In the speech, he stressed the importance of carrying “karseva” in Ayodhya and also reminded them to not violate the Supreme Court’s judgment. Talking about the site of Ram Janmbhoomi, he said,
“Sharp-edged boulders are present at the site. Nobody can sit there. The ground needs to be leveled. It has to be made fit for sitting. Some construction work can take place there as arrangements for a Yagnya has to be done.”
A Day Later
At that time, the Supreme Court had stated that no construction on the disputed site but had not stopped Hindus from performing Bhajan and Keertans in Ayodhya. A day after the speech of Vajpayee, on December 6th, 1992, a storm of Hindus hit the disputed site and illegally razed down the disputed structure which led to mass riots across the country. However, Vajpayee was not present in Ayodhya on that day.
Years later, when he became the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee clarified that his speech was made on a lighter note. In an interview to Outlook magazine, he said,
“I did not have much of a role in the Ayodhya movement.”
He also said that he did not mention the word masjid once in his speech and there was nothing in the speech that could be possibly be questioned by the courts.
Source: OpIndia
