Was it really Rajiv Gandhi who got the lock of Ram Mandir opened?

Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha: It is not hidden from anyone what BJP did for the Ram temple being built in Ayodhya, but is Congress involved in building the Ram temple in Ayodhya? Does it also have any role? Does Congress have any role in opening the lock that was installed on the birth place of Babri Masjid on 23 December 1949? Was that lock opened because of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi or was there some court order behind the opening of the lock, which the government was forced to follow? 

The statue of Ram Lala on the Ram Chabutra outside the Babri Masjid was installed under the central dome of the mosque late on the night of 22 December 1949, when Pandit Nehru was the Prime Minister at the Center, while senior Congress leaders in the state.

Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant was the Chief Minister. It is also certain that the idol was placed in the mosque only when the Congress government was in power both at the Center and in the state. 

The mosque was locked on 1949

When the idol of Ram Lala was placed under the dome of the Babri Masjid, the mosque was locked on 23 December 1949. Prime Minister Pandit Nehru and Chief Minister Govind Vallabh Pant themselves tried to take the idol out of the mosque and put it back on Ram Chabutra, but then Faizabad DM KK Nair refused to accept the order citing security issues and The state government was forced to lock the mosque.

Use of Babri Masjid stopped

After this, the matter reached the court and on 29 December 1949, the Additional Magistrate of Faizabad Court issued an order under Section 145 of CRPC, 1898, turning the entire place into municipal corporation. Got put under receivership of the Chairman of the Board. That is, now the state government had to guard that complex and the government lock had been put on the complex, due to which the use of Babri Masjid as a mosque stopped.

Dharmasansad in Udupi, Karnataka

After this, a flood of petitions came in the court of Faizabad Civil Judge. The Hindu side said that they should be allowed to worship and the lock should be opened. The Muslim side said that the lock should be opened so that they can use the mosque.

The case passed through the doors of the court and reached 1985. Then between 31 October and 1 November 1985, a Dharmasansad was held in Udupi, Karnataka. It was decided that if the lock is not opened then the saints will start a fast from March 9, 1986. Not only this, Mahant Paramahamsa Ramchandra Das even threatened to commit suicide.

Rajiv Gandhi was on the target of Hindus

At that time Rajiv Gandhi was on the target of Hindus for the decision of the Supreme Court on the Shah Bano case and for overturning that decision by making a law in the Parliament. . Many Congress leaders, including Arun Nehru and Makhanlal Fotedar, advised him to get the lock of the Ram Temple opened because of the Shah Bano episode, which the Hindu Congress was facing. Those who are angry will become happy.

Petition to open the lock 

Rajiv Gandhi agreed to this. Meanwhile, Umesh Chandra, a lawyer from Faizabad, filed a petition to open the lock in the lower court on January 28, 1986, but the lower court judge said that the documents related to the case were in the High Court, without seeing which a decision could not be taken. Saying this the court immediately rejected that petition. Umesh Chandra filed a petition against this decision in the court of Faizabad District Judge KM Pandey on 31 January 1986.

Then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi sent a message to Veer Bahadur Singh. At that time Veer Bahadur Singh was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, on the petition of Umesh Chandra, District Judge KM Pandey took opinion from the local administration regarding law and order. 

Then Faizabad’s then DM Indu Kumar Pandey and SP Karmaveer Singh gave an affidavit in the court that opening of the lock would not cause any law and order problem and then the very next day on February 1, 1986, at 4:40 pm, Judge KM Pandey Gave his decision.

Crowd before opening of the lock

He ordered that the lock be opened within an hour. Before the police administration could execute the court order, while waiting for the government official who had the key to that lock, thousands of people reached the disputed site and someone opened the lock. 

Lock opened after 37 years

Now since the order was from the court, the administration did not even try to find out who opened the lock, but it remained closed for almost 37 years. The lock had opened.

However, there is another story of the opening of the lock, which is told by Wajahat Habibullah, Joint Secretary of the PMO when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and IAS officer who was Rajiv Gandhi’s junior at Doon School. He says that when the lock of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was opened on 1 February 1986, Rajiv Gandhi had no information about it. 

The decision to open the lock was taken by Arun Nehru, who was the Minister of State for Home in Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet, and Chief Minister Veer Bahadur Singh, due to which the tension between Rajiv Gandhi and Arun Nehru increased so much that Arun Nehru even lost the ministry.

This story does not make sense considering what happened when the lock was opened on February 1, 1986. Because at that time Doordarshan was the only news channel and Doordarshan had no office in Faizabad. However, within an hour of the lock being lifted, Doordarshan broadcast the incident live, which in itself is enough to prove that Doordarshan could not have done such coverage without the consent of the government. 

As for the consent of Congress and especially Rajiv Gandhi in opening the lock, if Rajiv Gandhi had not agreed then an appeal would have been made in the higher court against the decision of the District Judge, but no one challenged the decision of the District Judge. It was not given and whatever lock was opened remained open.