ANKARA

On the 31st anniversary of the historic Babri Mosque's demolition, which will be completed on Wednesday, Indian Muslims have called it a "Black Day," with some vowing to continue their fight for legal rights in the country.

The 16th-century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was demolished by Hindu hardliners in 1992, triggering violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

Asma Zehra Tayeba, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, wrote on X, "We will remember the martyrdom of innocent 4000 plus brothers in Mumbai and across India."

"Let us not forget this Black Day!" she said.

India’s leading Muslim politician and President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Asaduddin Owaisi, wrote on X that they will continue to bring up the Babri Mosque. “Our fight was not for land but for legal rights, we do not want anything in alms. Give us what is our right,” his party said on X.

On the 31st anniversary, the local administration in Ayodhya tightened security and deployed additional security as a precautionary measure, police officials said.

Five years after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the cornerstone for a new Hindu temple on the site of the historic Babri Mosque, which was demolished by a Hindu mob in 1992, the temple's construction is nearing completion, with the inauguration expected in January.

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, the trust established to oversee construction and management, has been posting pictures of the temple's constriction, which has been in full swing.

In October, Modi said officials of the trust had invited him to Ayodhya for the “consecration of Shri Ram temple.”

The decades-long dispute was settled in November 2019, when the Supreme Court of India ruled that a temple could be built on the site and ordered the allotment of a separate plot of land for the construction of another mosque in place of the Babri Mosque.

The case pertained to a 16th-century mosque that was demolished by a frenzied Hindu mob in 1992. The court also ordered that the Sunni Central Waqf Board be given a separate plot of land on the outskirts of Ayodhya for the construction of a new mosque.

On court orders, the Uttar Pradesh state government has handed over five acres or 2.023 hectares of land to the Waqf Board on the outskirts of the city as compensation for building the mosque. The board, which works under the government, has decided to start the construction of the mosque soon.

Fundraising

The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation Trust, which is overseeing the construction of the alternate mosque, said the trust is raising funds for its construction.

"All project paperwork has been completed. We are now raising funds. When we finish it, construction will begin," the trust secretary Athar Hussain told Anadolu.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the alternate Babri Mosque was held in the city of Ayodhya in 2021.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has urged the Indian government to ensure the "safety, security, and protection of minorities, particularly Muslims and their places of worship."

“Today is a sad reminder of the demolition of the historic ‘Babri Masjid’ in India. On this day, 31 years ago, a mob of Hindu zealots demolished this centuries-old Mosque in Ayodhya in full view of Indian law enforcement authorities,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

* Islamuddin Sajid from Islamabad contributed to this report