Bengaluru : Karnataka BJP’s joint spokesperson Prakash Shesharaghavachar, who participated in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, states that 30 years down “we feel very satisfied that a symbol of slavery has been erased and a grand temple is coming up”.
“We are looking ahead to the opening of the temple,” he says. Prakash was part of the movement launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party to build the Ram Mandir and went from Karnataka with his family to Ayodhya as a young man. Now, he is a senior leader in the state BJP. “First of all it was not Babri Masjid, it was a disputed structure and the dispute is over,” he says.
“There is an absolute sense of satisfaction today. If the issue was not to be raised, the court would not have taken the decision of handing over the property to the original owners. Our efforts did yield results,” Prakash asserts.
Answering the charge that the incident led to the division of the country on communal lines, Prakash maintained that people have answered those allegations by electing the BJP repeatedly at the Centre and in several states.
He maintains that the memories of the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992, are evergreen and exciting till date. “The influence of the Ram Mandir movement was huge in Karnataka. Ram Bhakts used to board the Karnataka Express trains in large groups to reach Ayodhya.”
“We used to visit the railway station to send them off and the momentum made me take a call to go to Ayodhya as a Kar Sevak. I reached Allahabad and from there a bus was arranged to take us to Ayodhya on December 2, 1992.
“The people started targeting mediapersons and photographers. Tower after tower was destroyed and by 6 p.m. that day, all the towers were demolished.
“A Marg Darshak Mandali meeting was held that night and it was decided to install the statue of Lord Ram in its original place. The next day, the rubble of the Babri Masjid was cleared.
“Thousands of Ram Bhakts removed the debris with their bare hands in a few hours. All preparations were made to construct a temporary temple. Late BJP MLA B.N. Vijaykumar, a civil engineer, gave directions to lay the foundation. All were given a chance for a darshan of Shri Ram.
“President’s rule was declared in Uttar Pradesh. Directions were given on December 7 for the Kar Sevaks to vacate Ayodhya. The next morning at 4 a.m., RAF jawans started to take the Kar Sevaks into custody. I slowly started towards the railway station with my luggage,” Prakash Shesharaghavachar ended. — IANS
