The Babri Masjid: Security Tightened in Mathura Ahead On Its Anniversary Day

Security has been tightened in Mathura to avoid any untoward incident ahead of December 6, the date on which the Babri mosque was demolished in Ayodhya in 1992.

The Babri Masjid is a mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also known as the Babur Mosque or the Baburi Mosque, and was previously known as the Masjid-i Janmasthan.

According to markings on the monument, it was founded in the year 935 of the Islamic calendar by Mr Bq, possibly a bey serving under the Mughal emperor Bbur.

Together with the mosques at Sambhal and Panipat, it was one of three mosques alleged to have been erected on Bbur's orders in the 16th century. After decades of hatred between Muslims and Hindus over the site, it was dismantled in 1992.

The mosque's site has been a source of contention between Muslims and Hindus, with the latter believing it was built on top of Ram Janmabhoomi, the Hindu god Rama's birthplace. During an era of sociopolitical turbulence in India, the first documented conflict between religious factions over the site happened in 1853.

Under the British raj or direct British administration over the Indian subcontinent, separate sections of the site were created for Muslims and Hindus. Pictures of Rama were put in the mosque after India was partitioned and declared independent in 1949. As a consequence of the commotion, the site was closed to both groups, but the images remained.

In 1984, a campaign began to demolish the mosque and replace it with a Hindu temple. In the years that followed, the movement grew in power, culminating in riots in 1990 and the fall of India's ruling alliance.

The Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in a number of states, including Uttar Pradesh, as a result of this momentum, and on December 6, 1992, security authorities stood by while protestors desecrated the mosque.

In the decades that followed, a succession of legal fights erupted. In 2010, a high court judgement split the territory between Hindus and Muslims. Both Hindu and Muslim petitioners disputed the decision, and the Supreme Court gave the land to Hindus exclusively in 2019.

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