Ramlala’s life consecration continues in Ayodhya on 22nd of this month.
There is an atmosphere of devotion across the country regarding this. Besides, memories of the Ram Mandir movement that started four decades ago have also started flashing in people’s minds.
Former Union Minister and one of the prominent faces of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, BJP leader Uma Bharti has been away from political activities for some time now.
She has been among those leaders who not only participated in this movement at the age of 12 but also dedicated themselves to it.
When Babri Masjid was demolished on 6 December 1992, Bharti was present there. She was among the 32 people who were made accused in this case.
However, all of them were acquitted by a special CBI court in 2020. Last year, the Allahabad High Court had also rejected the appeal against the acquittal of all of them.
Uma joined Ram Mandir movement at the age of 12
In an interview to Indian Express, Uma Bharti said, “When I was 12 years old, I went to Ayodhya to give religious sermons.” Bharti used to give sermons on Ramayana and Mahabharata in her childhood.
He told that Mahant Ramchandra Das had taken him to Ayodhya to give a sermon. According to Uma Bharti, when she saw it locked and prayers being held outside, she asked why it was locked. She became worried after hearing this answer.
In 1984, when Vishwa Hindu Parishad started a movement regarding Ram Janmabhoomi, Uma Bharti also jumped into it. However, by then she had become active in politics and was 25 years old. According to Bharti, the slogan was then, “Speak loudly, open the lock of Ram Janmabhoomi.”
When the lock of the Ramjanmabhoomi complex opened in 1986 during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad organized the foundation stone laying program there in September 1989.
Uma Bharti had actively participated in it. After this, a meeting was held in Mathura, in which it was decided that Kar Seva would be conducted in Ayodhya on 31 October 1990.
At that time V.P. Singh was the Prime Minister. His government was being supported by the Left parties on one side and BJP on the other side. There was Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam had said that not even a bird would be able to kill in Ayodhya.
When Uma Bharti reached Ayodhya to perform Kar Seva with Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia, she was taken into custody and sent to Chinar Jail. Later he was kept in a guest house in Banda. However, on October 31, Kar Seva took place and Ashok Singhal was injured in police action.
Curfew was imposed in Ayodhya. According to Uma Bharti, she was enraged after seeing the police clash and action against Kar Sevaks on TV. In retaliation, she shaved her head and reached Ayodhya with some people.
Along with him were two brothers Ram Kumar and Sohit Kumar Kothari, who got separated from him due to the crowd and police curfew. The police killed both those brothers near Human Garhi.
When the police took away Uma Bharti
The group that Uma Bharti was leading in Ayodhya was lathicharged and tear gas bullets were fired. Ayodhya had turned into a camp.
The women CRPF personnel engaged in security then picked up Uma Bharti and took her to Faizabad jail. Knowing this news, local women surrounded the jail the next day. After this he was sent to Naini jail.
By now the Ram Mandir movement had started reaching its peak. Meanwhile, Ashok Singhal announced Karseva on 6 December 1992. On December 5, a huge crowd gathered in Ayodhya from all over the country.
A platform was built about half a kilometer away from the disputed structure but in front of it. Then Uma Bharti was riding on that stage. Murli Manohar Joshi, Lal Krishna Advani, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia, Sadhvi Ritambhara were also present on the same stage.
Babri started collapsing before our eyes
When Uma Bharti was addressing the crowd from that stage, she saw that the kar sevaks were climbing the Babri structure. According to Uma Bharti, I stopped after seeing this. I was standing.
Could see them. That’s when I told everyone about it. Advani ji sitting on the stage called him but no one could hear him because slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ were being raised very loudly there.
Uma tells that on the instructions of Advani ji, she moved towards the disputed structure from the back route. Additional SP Anju Gupta, Advani’s aide Deepak Chopra and Pramod Mahajan, who was then posted there, were also with him.
When she reached there, Uma Bharti was surrounded by the kar sevaks and was not allowed to go further. According to Bharti, she was appealing for discipline and peace but the kar sevaks picked her up, brought her back to the stage and left her. On the other hand, Kar Sevaks demolished the disputed structure and the Delhi government dismissed Kalyan Singh’s government.
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