The day Babri Mosque was demolished (watch in pics)

New Delhi: The Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute is a long and lingering one which has taken a toll of communal harmony in India. Ayodhya is regarded as the holy birthplace of Lord Rama by millions of Hindus. In 1526, Mughal invader Babar went on a rampage across north India and his general Mir Baqi destroyed the Ayodhya temple, where he built the Babri Masjid at the highest point of the town overlooking the river.For several years, the site was used for religious purposes by both Hindus and Muslims, but tension had crept in even since that period. During the Mughal period, Mughal soldiers were deployed to guard the site, as local sadhus led marches several times seeking to reinstate Ram Janmasthan again and again. During the British rule too, soldiers had to be deployed to stop confrontation between both comunities and the dispute lingered on..In 1936, the mosque and surrounding land were registered as Waqf No 26 Faizabad with the UP Sunni Central Board of Waqfs.On December 22, 1949, an idol of Lord Ram (in his childhood) was found inside Babri Masjid. While Hindus described this as a miracle, Muslims alleged that somebody deliberately installed the idol. The entire complex was locked and a legal dispute lingered on in courts. In 1984, a local court ordered the opening of locks on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri masjid complex, and politicians soon jumped into the controversy.The Vishwa Hindu Parishad carried out nationwide mobilisation for erecting a temple at the disputed site, and donations were collected. Senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani jumped into the fray. He led a Somnath to Ayodhya yatra for building the Ramjanmabhoomi temple, but his yatra was halted in Samstipur by Lalu Prasad's government in Bihar, In November, 1992, Advani and the VHP announced they would perform Kar Seva to begin the construction work from a place near the disputed site. On 6 December 1992, the BJP, VHP, RSS and other organizations organized a religious ceremony to symbolically start the building of a temple at the sacred site. About 150,000 karsevaks had assembled to witness the kar seva. BJP leaders L. K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti gave speeches to the VHP kar sevaks.Suddenly, kar sevaks surged inside the disputed complex, went up the domes of the mosque and demolished it completely. This was soon followed by communal riots in Faizabad and other areas.The BJP government in UP led by Kalyan Singh and its governments in other neighbouring states were dismissed by the Centre and President's Rule imposed in these states.On 16 December 1992, the Union home ministry set up the Justice Liberhan Commission to investigate the destruction of the Mosque, headed by retired High Court Judge M S Liberhan.According to the report, the events of December 6, 1992, in Ayodhya were "neither spontaneous nor unplanned".The legal battle over the 80 feet by 40 feet land far predates the VHP movement to construct the Ram temple.The first case was filed in January 1885 by Mahant Raghubir Das seeking permission to construct a temple on the chabutara (a raised platform) outside the Babri Masjid was dismissed. In the next 12 years, four title suits followed (all still pending before the courts). These include the one filed in December 1950 by Mahant Ramchandra Das Paramhans, who is now the chairman of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and another by the Sunni Central Boards of Waqfs, UP, in December 1961. All the four suits were clubbed together and brought before the Allahabad High Court, which began recording oral evidence in July 1996.The case has always moved at a snail's pace. Out of the 100 witnesses, only 23 have testified. On an average, the examination of a witness takes a fortnight. Says former Delhi High Court chief justice Rajinder Sachar: “It is really impossible to find whether Ram was born on that exact piece of land. The matter will go on and on for years.”The Union government on March 5 filed a petition before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court to expedite the case by holding daily hearings. Further, it suggested that the court appoint a commissioner or a judge to record the statements of the witnesses. A subsequent land title case was lodged in the Allahabad High Court, the verdict of which was pronounced 30th of September, 2010. On 30 September 2010, Allahabad High Court ruled that the 2,400 square feet (220 metre square) disputed land in Ayodhya, on which the Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished on December 6, 1992, will be divided into three parts: the site of the Ramlala idol to Lord Ram, Sunni Wakf Board gets one third and Nirmohi Akhara gets Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutara.The dispute is now pending before the Supreme Court.