The case for the Shri Rama Janmabhoomi movement can be stated as follows:
1. The issue is not one of bricks and mortar, i.e. it is not merely an issue of a temple. One more or one less temple does not give Ram bhakts any more or less opportunity to offer their prayers. The issue is related to our nationalism and our culture.
2. The Hindus believe that the place where the Babri structure stood is the birthplace of Shri Ram. This belief has a continuous tradition of more than 3000 years, as has been established by the archaeological investigation at the site. Such a long belief has to make it into a fact.
3. If the birthplace was somewhere else, there was no need for people to hold this place as sacred. After all, no one could imagine that some 2500 years later the holy site would be vandalised.
4. In 1528 AD, the temple that stood at the site was deliberately destroyed with an objective of constructing the Babri structure in its place. The purpose of the construction was not religious but political, and the purpose had also been intentionally offensive. The intention was to give the Hindus a continuous ocular demonstration that Islam was reigning supreme, even over Hinduism's holy places.
5. As a second best option, within 50 years the Hindus constructed a Ram Chabootar within the compound of the Babri structure. This was with an intention of keeping their claim to the site alive. Continuous pooja were being undertaken at the Chabootar. Now it is happening where the Shri Ram deity exists.
6. Hindus have been making continuous effort for the recovery of the site. In 1885, a judge of the British colonial regime accepted that the site was holy for the Hindus. In the post-independence period, too, legal cases have been continuing for the recovery of the site.
7. During the time of the Chandrashekar government, in December 1991, a major effort at a solution through dialogue was started. Hindus have given historical, literary, archaeological and revenue records to establish the antiquity of the belief of their tradition, and the destruction of the temple in 1528.
8. All these efforts were frustrated not so much by an obscurantist Muslim leadership, but by the political and intellectual community who wear the label of secularism on their sleeves.
9. The issue has become politicised not because of the demand for the return of the site, but because of the denial of the holy significance of the site for the Hindus, and of the deliberate destruction of the temple in 1528.
More information is available at the following URLs:
FAQ - Shri Rama Janmabhoomi Movement_English
Articles related to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi
Evidence For The Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir
White Paper on Ayodhya & The Rama Temple Movement
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