The demolition of the Babri Masjid structure on December 6, 1992, was a “Gandhian” solution to the centuries-old Ram Janmabhoomi issue, former Bharatiya Janata Party Balbir Punj has claimed in his upcoming book titled, ‘Tryst with Ayodhya: Decolonisation of India’ that is set to launch on January 13. Speaking to Financial Express Online, Punj said that his claim was based on the response by Mahatma Gandhi when he was asked how one should deal with a situation when a mosque had been forcibly built on someone’s land.

“In 1925, Gandhi ji was asked what to do if a mosque is forcibly built on a piece of land owned by somebody else. Gandhi’s response was incredible. Gandhi said that if ‘A’ is in possession of his land and someone comes to build some things on it, be it even a mosque, ‘A’ has the right at the first opportunity to pull down the structure.

“Any building of the shape of a mosque is not a mosque. A building to be a mosque must be duly consecrated. A building put up on another’s land without his permission is pure robbery. Robbery cannot be consecrated. Gandhi said that if ‘A’ has neither the will nor the capacity to destroy the building miscalled mosque, he has the right of going to a law court to have the building pulled down,” Punj said.

“And that is what the Hindus did… They first fought a long-drawn legal battle… When they gained power, they brought it (Babri) down,” he added. “I have called it the Gandhian solution in my book.”

‘Congress policy towards Hinduism one of inbuilt hate’

Touching upon ongoing controversy over the Congress “respectfully declining” the invitation for the Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration ceremony on January 22, Punj says that the party’s policy towards Hinduism has historically been a mix of “rank opportunism” and “inbuilt hate” for the religion.

Punj said that there are reasons both historical and immediate that have guided the Congress on the Ram temple issue at different times. The immediate issue, says Punj was the choice between “Rahul and Ram”, with the party choosing the former. He claimed that the religious demography of Wayanad, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha seat, was what qualified as the “immediate” factor.

“Non-Muslims constitute about 55 per cent of the electorate in the constituency that Rahul represents and Muslims form a very large part of it. The Congress could not find a safe seat for him in the entire north and central India so he had to contest (2019 Lok Sabha polls) from Kerala. The immediate concern was that the voters of Wayanad, the only possible seat from where Rahul Gandhi could get elected, would not like it if the Gandhi family or the Congress party were seen being part of the Ram Temple inauguration. The choice was between Rahul and (Lord) Ram and the party made its choice to go with Rahul,” Punj said.

Punj further claims that the unanimous verdict delivered by the Supreme Court’s Constitution bench, paving the way for the construction of the Ram temple, proved that the construct — that stopping the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya was a litmus test for ‘secularism’ and the ‘safety’ of Muslims in the country — was pure falsehood.

“Rahul Gandhi’s harping on his Brahmin lineage, wearing a janeyu over a kurta and doing selective pre-poll temple hopping are comical attempts to paper over his own and his party’s disconnect with the country,” he added.