A sting operation with full of twists and turns, conducted on 23 key people involved in the Ram Janambhoomi movement, claims that the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, was very well planned by various wings of the Sangh parivar and carried out with meticulousness by trained volunteers.
It wasn’t, as it is claimed, a case of mob frenzy going out of control, leading to the fall of the disputed 16th century structure.
The investigation, carried out by Cobrapost, claims that by piecing together the versions given by the top Ram Janambhhomi players — among them Acharya Dharmendra, Sakshi Maharaj, Uma Bharti, Mahant Vedanti and Vinay Katiyar — it is obvious that top BJP leaders like L K Advani and the UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh of that time, as well as former Congress PM, P V Narasimha Rao, were aware of the planned demolition of Babri Masjid.
As per TOI, it has no independent confirmation of these allegations or whether the purported confessions are accurate or not.
Posing as a would-be-author researching his book on the Ayodhya movement, Cobrapost associate editor K Ashish travelled to Ayodhya, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Tanda, Mathura, Moradabad in UP, Jaipur, Aurangabad, Mumbai and Gwalior interviewing 23 of those who participated in the operation. He surreptitiously recorded conversations with them.
If what they claim is true, leaders and activists worked hard behind closed doors for months on a plan codenamed ‘Operation Janmabhoomi’ and executed it with military precision.
There were trained volunteers, logistics painstakingly put in place and the assault on the disputed shrine launched using large surging crowds with volunteers skilled in demolishing structures entrenched in it.
Not only do those interviewed spell out details of the planning, they also allegedly disclose how enthusiastic young participants were purposely used as cannon fodder by provoking a police firing on kar sevaks in 1990 due to the belief of some leaders that the movement would not gather steam unless ‘some Hindus die’.
A lot of those interviewed by the make-believe author are accused in CBI cases pertaining to the demolition. Yet, they looked as if to have no qualms in “confessing” (or boasting) about their role in the episode that left a deep communal schism in India.
THE ALLEGED PLOT
Those enlisted for training weren’t told of their mission till a month before Babri’s fall.
At Sarkhej (Gujarat), Bajrang Dal conducted month long training in June 1992 for 38 members. The trainers were retired military officers, retired from their services.
At a confidential meeting, top VHP office bearers asked this band of 38 to form a ‘Laxman Sena’ to tear down the structure. If all failed, Shiv Sena had a plan B: Use dynamite on structure. In the end, petrol bombs were apparently used.