Bengaluru: Prakash Sesharaghavachar, a senior BJP leader in Karnataka who went to Ayodhya in 1992 and took part in the December 6 demolition of the Babri Masjid and witnessed the whole sequence of events, said that he is proud of it.
“Razing the old structure paved the way for the grand Ram temple today. It was a historical and proud moment,” he said.
Recollecting the events, he said first it was a group of women who climbed three domes of the Babri Masjid and started breaking them, followed by others.
“I used to send off kar sevaks who travelled to Ayodhya. Seeing the spirit of thousands of men and women, I also decided to start my journey to Ayodhya and boarded the Karnataka Express train with a friend whose two brothers, wife and daughter had come for the Kar Seva. A bus was arranged from Allahabad on the night of December 2 to reach Ayodhya. We stepped into the temple town at 1.30 a.m.,” he said.
“Though it was December there was no cold as such. We were told that the details of the Kar Seva would be given on December 4. The next day we were asked to bring a handful of sand from the banks of the Saryu river and put it in the designated place. I was deputed to protect the designated place of 150 square feet in RSS uniform. I was thrilled,” he said.
On December 6, the kar sevaks and other people stood on all surrounding buildings at the controversial site. It was like the whole town was full of Ram bhakts. One youth made up like Lord Hanuman first barged inside the barricades. People started following him and raised slogans. Attempts to clear them were futile. The twist came when a group of 50 youths with yellow bands wrapped around their foreheads tried to push the kar sevaks out from the place, he said.
This was the last straw. Thousands of kar sevaks broke through the barricades. The appeals of former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani Ji, senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi Ji, former Chief Minister Uma Bharti, VHP leader Ashok Singhal, Sadhvi Rithambhara to maintain peace were lost in the din. “We saw teams of women climb on three domes of the structure and start to break them. A sea of kar sevaks surged forward to help. Seeing the force of the Ram bhakts, the police didn’t dare to stop them. The controversial structure started to collapse. By 6 p.m., all three domes were brought down,” he recollected.
The next day, the remains of the controversial structure were cleared to install the idol of Ram lalla. Thousands of kar sevaks cleared the debris with their bare hands and arrangements were made to build a temporary temple.
President’s Rule was declared in Uttar Pradesh on December 7. The kar sevaks had got clear instructions to vacate the place. Next day at 4 a.m., the Rapid Action Force started taking kar sevaks into custody. “We quietly started with our luggage towards the railway station,” he said.
“If that had not happened, the grand Ram temple would have remained a distant dream,” he stated. “I am proud of it,” he reiterated. “The razing of an old structure paved the way for a grand temple today,” he added.
