Islamabad
Thirty-three years have passed since Hindu extremists, supported by Indian state institutions, demolished the historic Babri Masjid, yet the wounds inflicted on the global Muslim community remain deeply painful and unresolved.
According to Kashmir Media Service, thousands of Hindutva extremists affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Bajrang Dal razed the 16th-century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on December 6, 1992. The tragedy continues to haunt the collective conscience of Muslims worldwide.
Further adding to the anguish was the controversial 2019 Indian Supreme Court verdict that allowed the construction of a Hindu temple on the exact site of the demolished mosque and acquitted senior BJP figures, including L.K. Advani, in the demolition case.
Hindu extremist mobs had also killed hundreds of Muslims and injured thousands during the riots that followed.
Marking the 33rd anniversary of the demolition, Pakistan said in an official statement that the Babri Masjid remains embedded in the nation’s collective memory, and the events of December 6, 1992, continue to evoke grief and distress.
The Foreign Office stated that the demolition stands as a stark symbol of intolerance and religious bigotry. Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi emphasized that safeguarding religious heritage is a collective responsibility of the international community and stressed the need for transparent accountability for attacks targeting Muslim religious sites.
He said the desecration of any place of worship violates universal principles of religious equality.
He noted that Indian Muslims have endured insecurity and psychological trauma since the Babri Masjid incident. Pakistan, he added, remains committed to promoting interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence. He urged the international community to play its role in protecting Muslim religious heritage and called on India to uphold equal rights and religious tolerance for all its citizens.
Meanwhile, in statements issued in Srinagar, leaders and organizations of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) said that even after 33 years, the demolition of Babri Masjid by mobs of BJP, RSS, and other Hindutva outfits continues to weigh heavily on the hearts of Muslims.
The Hurriyat leaders said the ruling BJP is driven by a fascist ideology aimed at transforming India into a “Hindu Rashtra.” They said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hands remain stained with the blood of Gujarat’s Muslims and that life for minorities—especially Muslims—has become increasingly intolerable under BJP rule, with killings continuing and mosques being systematically targeted.
They added that the BJP-led Hindutva regime is aggressively pushing its demographic engineering agenda in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), aiming to convert the Muslim majority into a minority.
The APHC urged the international community and the United Nations to play an effective role in safeguarding the lives, honour, properties, and places of worship of Muslims in India and IIOJK.
