Indore: The decades old Ramjanmabhoomi dispute of Ayodhya was settled with the Supreme Court judgement on Saturday, which was accepted with calmness across the region, but the atmosphere during the Ayodhya movement of the 90s was surcharged and it made Indore the epicenter of Hindutva movement in Malwa region.
According to social and political observers of the region, there are three important dates that stand out during the course of the Ayodhya movement that started with the Shilanyas of the temple in 1989 and culminated in the demolition of the Babri masjid in 1992. Thousands of people from this region took part in the movement.
The initial boost towards Hindutva came after November 9, 1989 with the Shilanyas of the temple in Ayodhya and then it gathered momentum after September 30, 1990 when the Ram Temple construction movement started and it culminated on December 6, 1992 when karsevaks demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
Hukumchand Sanwla, VHP International Vice-President, who was Madhya Bharat Prant organizational secretary of RSS in 90’s said that participation from Malwa region, including the rural areas, in the Ayodhya movement kept on rising. According to some estimates during the Shilanyas around 5000 people went from this region carrying ‘Ram Shilas’ went to Ayodhya. The number doubled when an attempt was made to construct the temple and an estimated 25,000 people went from this region to Ayodhya, many of them as Karsevaks when the Babri Masjid was demolished.
Prakash Solapurkar, senior Pracharak of RSS, who is aware of the history of the movement said that the Ayodhya movement had support not only in the cities, but in the rural areas also.
