Timeline
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1528 | The Babri Mosque was built in Ayodhya in 1528. Hindu groups claim it was built after demolishing a temple. | |
| 1853 | The first recorded communal clashes over the site date back to this year. | |
| 1859 | The colonial British administration put a fence around the site, denominating separate areas of worship for Hindus and Muslims. And that is the way it stood for about 90 years. | |
| 1949 | In December of that year, idols were put inside the mosque. Both sides to the dispute filed civil suits. The government locked the gates, saying the matter was sub judice and declared the area “disputed”. | |
| 1961 | Case filed in Indian courts against forceful occupation of the Babri Mosque and placing of idols within it. | |
| 1984 | The movement to build a temple at the site, which Hindus claimed was the birthplace of Lord Ram, gathered momentum when Hindu groups formed a committee to spearhead the construction of a temple at the Ramjanmabhoomi site. | |
| 1986 | A district judge ordered the gates of the mosque to be opened after almost five decades and allowed Hindus to worship inside the “disputed structure.” A Babri Mosque Action Committee was formed as Muslims protested the move to allow Hindu prayers at the site. | |
| 1989 | The clamour for building a Ram temple was growing. Fronted by organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, foundations of a temple were laid on land adjacent to the "disputed structure." | |
| 1990 | The then BJP president Lal Krishna Advani took out a cross-country rathyatra to garner support for the move to build a Ram temple at the site. VHP volunteers partially failed. Many were gunned down by the police on orders of the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, when they gathered in Ayodhya as participants of the Rath-Yatra and their bodies were thrown in the river Saryu. | |
| 1991 | Riding high on the success of Advani's rathyatra, and annoyance at the previous regime's killings of the Kar Sevaks, the BJP became India's primary opposition party in Parliament and came to power in Uttar Pradesh. | |
| 1991 | The movement for building a temple gathered further momentum with Karsevaks or Hindu volunteers pouring into Ayodhya. Bricks were sent from across India. | |
| 1992 | 6 December | The Babri Mosque was demolished by Karsevaks. Communal riots across India followed. |
| 1992 | 16 December | Ten days after the demolition, the Congress government at the Centre, headed by PV Narasimha Rao, set up a commission of inquiry under Justice Liberhan. |
| 1993 | Three months after being constituted, the Liberhan Commission began investigations into who and what led to the demolition of the Babri Mosque. | |
| 2001 | Tensions rose on the anniversary of the demolition of the mosque as the VHP reaffirmed its resolve to build a temple at the site. | |
| 2002 | 27 February | At least 58 people were killed in Godhra, Gujarat, in an attack on a train believed to be carrying Hindu volunteers from Ayodhya. Riots followed in the state and over 2000 people were unofficially reported to have died in these. |
| 2003 | The court ordered a survey to find out whether a temple to Lord Ram existed on the site. In August, the survey presented evidence of a temple under the mosque. Muslim groups disputed the findings. | |
| 2003 | September | A court ruled that seven Hindu leaders, including some prominent BJP leaders, should stand trial for inciting the destruction of the Babri Mosque. |
| 2004 | November | An Uttar Pradesh court ruled that an earlier order which exonerated LK Advani for his role in the destruction of the mosque should be reviewed. |
| 2007 | The Supreme Court refused to admit a review petition on the Ayodhya dispute. | |
| 2009 | The Liberhan Commission, which was instituted ten days after the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992, submitted its report on 30 June – almost 17 years after it began its inquiry. Its contents were not made public. | |
| 2010 | 30 September | The Allahabad High Court pronounces its verdict on four title suits relating to the Ayodhya dispute on 30 September 2010. Ayodhya land to be divided into 3 parts. 1/3 goes to Ram Lalla represented by Hindu Maha Sabha, 1/3 to Sunni Wakf Board, 1/3 goes to Nirmohi Akhara. |
| 2010 | December | The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and Sunni Waqf Board moved to the Supreme Court of India, challenging part of the Allahabad High Court’s verdict. |
| 2011 | 9 May | Supreme Court of India stayed the High court order splitting the disputed site in 3 parts and said that status quo will remain. The two judge bench of Supreme Court also remarked that the HC verdict was surprising as no party wanted a split of the site. |
Read more about this topic: Ayodhya Dispute