Ayodhya - The Dark Night

by Krishna Jha

As the trespassers walked towards the mosque, the muezzin [...] jumped out of the darkness. Before the adversaries could discover his presence, he dashed straight towards Abhiram Das, the vairagi who was holding the idol in his hands and leading the group of intruders. [...] The sadhu quickly freed himself and, together with his friends, retaliated fiercely. Heavy blows began raining from all directions. Soon, the muezzin realized that he was no match for the men and that he alone would not be able to stop them. 22 December 1949: A conspiracy that began with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi culminated in the execution of the Ayodhya strategy. Late that night, a little-known sadhu, Abhiram Das, and his followers entered the Babri Masjid and planted an idol of Rama inside it. While it is known that the Hindu Mahasabha had a role in placing the idol in the mosque, the larger plot and the chain of events that led to that act have never been subject to rigorous scrutiny. Through intrepid research and investigation, Krishna Jha and Dhirendra K. Jha bring together the disparate threads of the buried narrative for the first time. Through a series of first-hand interviews with eyewitnesses and the unearthing of archival material, the authors take us behind the scenes to examine the motivations and workings of the Mahasabha members who pulled the strings. They also examine the liaison between Mahasabhaites and Hindu traditionalists in the Congress - an association that Jawaharlal Nehru sought to break in his cautious battle with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the right-wing forces. The Dark Night uncovers, in vivid detail, what really transpired on the fateful night that was to leave a permanent scar on the Indian polity.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 16, 2013

Reviews

[Rupinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thriller-like book on one of the most contentious and impactful episodes of Indian history, long forgotten and ignored because it may hurt sentiments. The authors have done impeccable research and backed up their analysis and claims with rare but credible archival material.
A must-read for anyone interested in this sordid episode of Modern India's history.

[Ajitabh Pandey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent piece of work explaining the partial history and some facts of one of the most controversial events in the history of independent India. I was not aware of the historical events which took place in 1949 which again brought this half-century old issue to surface and this book appraised me of the same.

Any open minded person should definitely read this book as mere historical document to learn more about the events.

This issue is definitely a sensitive issue and no concrete conclusions should be drawn merely based on this book. We need to understand the issue dating back to the times of Mughal emperor Babur.

I am planning to purchase this two volume book - The Babri Masjid Question, 1528-2003: 'A Matter of National Honour' and The Babri Masjid Question, 1528-2003: 'A Matter of National Honour' for a detailed understanding on the history of the issue.

[Shashank Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book deals primarily with the events that transpired in the late 1940s to the early 1950s and culminated in the encroachment of the Babri Masjid and its transformation into a temple from a mosque for all intents and purposes. It delves into great detail about the politics of the time at the local and national levels while also providing an insight into the psyche of a greedy & bigoted cast of the key players in this most sordid act. The nexus between the politicians, judiciary and communalists of the day stands out in the narrative.

As a side note, this is not the book you’re looking for if you want to know what happened in the late 1980s until the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. The plan against the Babri Masjid was hatched close to half a century before its destruction. This book just touches upon the culmination but its intent is to expose the genesis and it does that very well.

Key takeaway: India was a cesspool of bigotry and corruption even in the 1940s. Can’t pin this one on the millennials.

[Harsh Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is well written shit with no credible information. One can prepare for critical reasoning by reading unfathomable fallacies presented in this book. Please don't waste your time on this book. The author's logical reasoning is shit. The only thing that he has to back his points/verbose is some poignant lines.

[Nikhil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched. But readability is lacking due to too much political context which could have been shortened.And it deal with only the single incident of placing Rama idol in masjid.Doesn't deal with history going back to 1500 or present day situation

[CK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revelations.
While a few bits and pieces were known to me before, this book helped me understand the context and events that led where we are today.
Truly ashamed that leaders like Patel and Shashtri contributed to this mess we sit on today.

[Yash Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the name of Lord Shri Ram
------------------------

1) This book is divided into the following six chapters -
* ' Maharaj follow me '
* The three kingpins
* Sakhis and vairagis
* Nehru - Patel stand-off
* The conspiracy deepens
* A Gandhian's lone stand

2) This book reveals the notorious plan of Hindu mahasabha to convert babri masjid into a temple, which they did it successfully on the night of 22-23 December 1949 by placing the idol of Lord Shri Ram inside the mosque by using their proxy baba Abhiram Das.

3) The story goes like that, a naga vairagi by the name of Abhiram Das who belongs to the nirvani akhada on the night of 22-23 December 1949 scaled the wall of Babri masjid with some of his trusted followers, and after landing inside the mosque they mercilessly beated the last muezzin of Babri masjid by the name of muhammad Ismael, and then placed the statue of Lord Shri ram inside the compound of Babri masjid.

4) But the Author tells us that before the appearance of statue inside the mosque, the 'Ram chabutara' was considered as the original birthplace of Shri ram, and this raised platform which was considered as Ramjanambhoomi was under the control of nirmohi akhada, and all the donations and offerings were collected by this akhada. But this suddenly changed on the night of 22 December 1949 when Abhiram Das placed the idol inside the mosque, and later claimed that lord rama was himself came in the form of a statue to reclaim his original birthplace.

5) Infact the ram chabutara which is only 50 feet away from the masjid but within it's compound was originally considered as the Ramjanambhoomi until the plantation of idol inside the mosque. And this ram chabutara was built after the revolt of 1857 in which the mahants of ayodhya helped the British authorities during that period and in return the British India government gave them the land which they grabbed it with their both hands.

6) After placing the idol, the leaders of hindu mahasabha which was behind all the conspiracy started distributing pamphlets which said that lord ram himself came inside the mosque to claim his original birthplace, and with the help of sadhus and saints the leaders of mahasabha organized bhajans and bhandaras so that people will come and the place remain heavily crowded.

7) As it is a well known fact that after the partition of India, some right wing organizations like RSS ( Rashtriya syamsevak Sangh ), hindu mahasabha hatched a plan to convert the indian state into a ' Hindu rashtra ', but their plan was failed badly after a member of hindu sabha killed mahatma gandhi in broad day light, and after that the then government of India banned the organizations like RSS and all their important leaders was arrested and put to jail including the leaders like V.D Savarkar and the Mahant of gorakshnath Digvijai nath. Though later they all were exonerated by the court in the conspiracy to kill mahatma gandhi.

8) After the crackdown by the government the leaders of hindu mahasabha realized that they can't confront the government of India directly, and since their motto was to convert India into a Hindu rashtra and depriving indian muslims of their voting rights. And to achieve this, they planned to arouse the religious sentiments of the majority community so that they can capture power from the Indian national Congress and form their own government, but all this proved futile because the first Prime minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru with all his power cracked down on them heavily.

9) Although the idol was planted successful inside the mosque on 22 December 1949, but the original plan to convert mosque into a temple was first discussed by mahant Digvijai nath, K.K.K nair and maharaja of balrampur on 15 august 1947.

10) The man Friday who helped tremendously in all this is a man by the name of K.K.K Nair a senior bureaucrat, infact he delayed the matter so that the idol will not be removed by the government, and he provided false arguments that removing of idol will start riot among the majority and minority community.

11) Both the Authors had done a good amount of research before writing this book, and they interviewed several eyewitnesses who were present when Abhiram Das planted the idol inside the mosque.

12) The language of the book is very easy to read and The book also contains the pictures of Abhiram Das and others who were connected with this incident.

13) This book will definitely clear your doubts related to the Ramjanambhoomi and Babri masjid dispute. Though I request you to read this book as an Indian citizen not as Hindu, Muslim etc, only then you can gauge the entire picture.

My ratings : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ( 4/5 )

I hope you like the review, thanks for reading, Jai Hind.

[Arif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Act 1 starts with the night Lord Ram's idol was surreptitiously planted inside a Mosque by a cabal of communalists and the narrative then branches off to the miscreants' past. Jha then explicates Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and deftly ties it up to the events leading to the sacrilegious act.

We have the same event (planting the idol in the mosque) explained in political, religious, bureaucratic, and judiciary angles in separate chapters, which makes it quite monotonous.
But towards the end, these angles are adeptly stitched together to present a holistic view and that's when the book clicks. Besides that, the book overwhelms us with politicians who hatch conspiracies to push India to be a cultural state and make electoral gains by raising communal passion, self-proclaimed religious gurus who aspire to gain monetary (and territorial) benefits by making India a religious (read theocratic) state, idealistic politicians who sweat for a secular India and the usual victims - people of the state - who are played.

Chapters, where Nehru outmaneuvers the Patel-supported communally charged factions of the Congress to push his vision for a secular India, were quite engaging. Jha throughout the book outlines how Hindu Mahasabha operates in secrecy to propel their Religious Rashtra agenda and how seemingly isolated incidents of communal violence in Ayodhya were intrinsically interlinked, all with the same objective – the complete Hindutvization of the United Provinces.

Set in the immediate post-independence period, there are excerpts from speeches of the Hindu Mahasabha leaders who link religion and politics in a manner that could provide a rallying point for Hindus. Speeches by these leaders (Savarkar, Digvijay Nath & NB Khare) along the lines of,
"The ideology of a secular state must be given up and the ideology of a cultural state must be adopted",
"It is my firm belief that to solve the problem of this nation there should be a change of constitution. Muslims should be regarded as second-class citizens ... permitted to enter trade or commerce; practice their culture; their money, the property should be protected. But they should stay away from politics", and their style of distorting the truth to mobilize sects of the society to oppress minorities is strikingly similar to what we are witnessing now in 2022.

[Mukul Bhatnagar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing research and hardwork by the authors. The book is definitely an authoritative resource in India's longest, most punishing dispute.

The authors have revealed that Hindu extremist groups placed the idol in the disputed mosque in connivance with pro-Hindu groups in Congress (I). Congress party's intra-faction rivalry also contributed to the cause of Hindu groups.

However, there can never something absolutely perfect. The authors on page 73 have described Babri Masjid as '3 domed marvel of Ayodhya'. It was not a marvel. It could pass for any ordinary mosque. Then later in the book , the authors have written an estate (Lorpur Estate) to be situated in heart of the city. This estate was in the heart of the city, but on the edge- Civil Lines.

[Shoaib Mohammed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written detailed analysis about the events which led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Very interesting and an eye opener.

[Bhuvanesh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a thriller, not actual history, and not a very good thriller, either.