On this day 29 years ago, the Babri Masjid was destroyed by a Hindu mob with the support of Hindu nationalist organizations across India. This act of violence triggered Hindu-Muslim riots across India and resulted in “retaliatory” attacks on Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Since then, Hindu nationalist organizations have demanded the construction of a temple to Rama on top of the illegally-demolished mosque. A Supreme Court decision in 2019 both declared the demolition of the mosque unlawful, and granted permission for the construction of a Ram Temple on the same site. 

In this post, we share some reflections by members of Hindus for Human Rights about this event and its consequences today.