In Time: Babri Masjid Demolition

1992: Mob rips apart mosque in Ayodhya

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Hindu militants have demolished the Babri Mosque and attacked other Muslim targets, in one of India's worst outbreaks of communal violence.

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> Timeline: Ayodhya crisis

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In Context

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The destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya triggered some of the worst inter-communal violence since partition in 1947. More than 2,000 people died in rioting throughout India. The BJP's leader, LK Advani, resigned as leader of the opposition, accepting "moral responsibility".

He subsequently became deputy PM in the BJP government of Atal Behari Vajpayee. He was among seven Hindu leaders ordered to stand trial in 2003 for inciting violence at Ayodhya. In February 2002, one of the Hindu groups involved in the 1992 demonstration, the VHP, again called hundreds of volunteers to the site to begin construction of the temple.


> In pictures: Ayodhya attack

> Q&A: The Ayodhya dispute


About Ayodhya: Lying on the banks of the Ghaghara River just east of Faizabad, Ayodhya in ancient times was one of India's greatest cities. It was the capital of Kosala, as described in the Ramayana.

On YouTube: Demolition of Babri Masjid

The Self-less Assassin

As India observes the 60th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's death, Hindu nationalist groups still grapple with the question whether to reject or appreciate his-killer.

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist Nathuram-Godse on 30 January, 1948 in Delhi's Birla House. In the communally charged atmosphere during India's Partition in August 1947, Godse and his accomplices held 'Gandhi' responsible for the miseries of the Hindus and accused him of appeasing Muslims.

Hindu nationalist organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, (Nationalist Volunteers' Organisation) were banned and many of its leaders were sent to jail following the assassination.

The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of India's main opposition party BJP.

'Selfless act'

"We will have to accept that Nathuram-Godse acted with selfless spirit; he did not have any self-interest in it. He must also have been aware that he would be hanged for what he was going to do.

This spirit cannot be denied," RSS ideologue Devendra Swaroop told the BBC.

The Politics of Ethnicity in India - Part two

The 1981-census enumerates a tribal population of more than 50 million persons divided into hundreds of distinct groups.

Many political mobilizations have occurred among several of the tribal groups from the nineteenth-century up to the present, of which a few have developed into bitter, violent, and secessionist-movements directed against non-tribals, against particular state-governments, or against the 'Government of India' itself.

> The Politics of Ethnicity in India: Part one

Source > The Politics of India since Independence

Pakistan's Shia-Sunni divide

Differences between Pakistan's Sunni-majority and Shia-minority go back to the schism following the prophet's death. But in the past two decades those differences have been manifest in repeated-violence.

Related-Verse >
Those who split up their Religion, and become (mere) Sects,- each party rejoicing in that which is with itself! (The Romans - Verse 32)

Zia's legacy >
Most sectarian violence in Pakistan takes place in the province of Punjab and the country's commercial capital, Karachi.

There have also been outbreaks in Quetta.

Musharraf is not the only Pakistani leader to have such-problems. Most analysts agree it began in 1979, when Zia ul-Haq began Islamicising Pakistani politics.

Via In2Verses

The Politics of Ethnicity in India - Part one

India's linguistic, religious, ethnic, and cultural diversities are proverbial. So are the political mobilizations and the violent conflicts and antagonisms which have arisen from time to time among and between persons from its distinctive cultural groups.

However, it is important to note that neither political mobilization nor ethnic and cultural antagonisms flow naturally out of India's diversities.

The 1971 census of India enumerated 33 languages with speakers of more than one million, but only 15 of them have achieved any form of significant political recognition.

> The Politics of Ethnicity in India: Part two

Source > The Politics of India since Independence

Diwali 2007

Diwali, the festival of lights, is the most popular festival from South Asia, and is also the occasion for celebrations by Jains and Sikhs as well as Hindus.

Diwali extends over five days.

Because of the lights, fireworks, and sweets involved, it's a great favourite with children. Learn more > Diwali - BBC Religion & Ethics Website

> Diwali 2007 photos