Babri, Mughal emperor, would never have imagined that his
decision had dramatic repercussions in India after nearly 500 years.
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| Rama, Vishnu's avatar |
In 1528 in fact, the emperor built the Babri Masjid, Babri
Mosque, in Ayodhya , mythical place where , according to tradition, was born
Rama, incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu and the protagonist of the epic
Ramayana.
No problem arose until about sixty years ago, when Hindu
extremist groups have begun to claim the land where the mosque had been built (more
than 400 years before!), arguing that in that specific area was a temple
dedicated to the Hindu Rama.
The disputes and controversy went on until 6 December 1992,
when a mob of Hindu extremists literally razed the mosque and built on its
ruins a makeshift temple in honor of Rama.
To the demolition violent clashes followed across India
during which an unknown number of people died even though official sources talk
of 2,000 deaths mostly Muslims.
Of course, the story did not end there, so it's been going
on between high and low up to the judgment of the High Court of Allahabad in
2010 decided that the area where once stood the Babri Masjid had to be divided
into three parts: one dedicated to the Hindu temple that is already there and
the other two are intended respectively to the Hindu community and the Islamic
one .
The ruling was happy with everyone and no one at the same
time and periodically revived the problem mainly because of the political
exploitation by parties that leverage on "Hindu identity".
And so a few days ago (remember that the crucial national
elections of 2014 are approaching), the police arrested more than 1,200
extremists who wanted participate in the
city of Ayodhya in an unauthorized demonstration called by the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad, an Indian nationalist group.
