January 22, 2024, will forever be a red-letter day for LK Advani. As India and the world welcomed Lord Ram in Ayodhya after a 200-year-old dispute, the political face of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement watched the fruition of his legacy from the side-lines.
The long and arduous journey for the Ram Mandir — BJP’s poll plank and electoral promise — would be incomplete without mentioning the efforts of ‘charioteer’ Advani who will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social networking site X on Saturday morning to share the news. “I am very happy to share that Shri LK Advani Ji will be conferred the Bharat Ratna. I also spoke to him and congratulated him on being conferred this honour. One of the most respected statesmen of our times, his contribution to the development of India is monumental. His is a life that started from working at the grassroots to serving the nation as our Deputy Prime Minister. He distinguished himself as our Home Minister and I&B Minister as well. His Parliamentary interventions have always been exemplary, full of rich insights,” he said.
‘Mandir Wahin Banayenge’
It was 1990 when Advani’s ‘Rath Yatra’ changed the political discourse of India as the now 96-year-old veteran gave the clarion call for establishing the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
As Advani roared ‘Mandir Wahin Banayenge’ — the slogan synonymous with the struggle for the temple — he found resonance in a huge number of Hindus who gathered to accompany him on his “quest for undoing a historic wrong”.
In its 10,000-kilometres’-long journey, the Yatra drew huge crowds as it traversed from Gujarat’s Somnath towards Ayodhya.
Not one to be cowed down by opposition leaders — including then Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to cancel his march — Advani asked if the courts would decide where Lord Ram was born.
“Log kehte hain ki aap adalat ka faisla kyun nahi maante? Adalat kya is baat ka faisla karegi ke yahan par Ram ka janm hua tha ke nahi hua tha? (Several people are asking me to cancel the yatra. They say why don’t you respect the court’s verdict? Can the court decide whether Ram was born here or not?),” he asked.
Appealing to the Opposition to give him free passage, he said: “Aap se toh itni hi asha hai ke beech mein mat pado. Raaste mein mat aao. Kyunki yeh jo Rath hai, Lokrath hai. Janata ka Rath hai. (We request you to not try to interfere. Allow us free passage. Because this Rath is the will of people and that of people).”
Later, Advani and his associates were stopped and arrested in Samastipur in October 1990. Two years later, the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 by Kar Sevaks who had assembled in Ayodhya from across the country. Advani described the incident as the “saddest day of my life”.
Legal Tangle
The Babri Masjid demolition dealt a body blow to BJP. Advani and 32 other leaders, including Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Nritya Gopal Das, president of the existing Ram Mandir Trust, were named as accused in the case.
It was after a 28-year-long struggle that they were acquitted by a special CBI court which said there was no conclusive evidence against the 32 accused of being involved in any conspiracy to bring down the disputed structure in Ayodhya.
Advani’s journey in his words
Penning a piece titled ‘Shri Ram Mandir: Divya Swapn Ki Poorti’ (Shri Ram temple: Fulfilment Of A Divine Dream) in the 76-year-old Rashtradharma magazine, Advani said destiny had decided that the temple would become a reality one day.
“Days after the rath yatra started, I realised that I was only the charioteer. The real messenger of the yatra was the chariot itself. It was venerable, as it was going to Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, for the noble purpose of the construction of a grand temple dedicated to Him,” Advani wrote in the article.
Recalling that PM Modi was his aide in the Yatra, he said: “When PM Modi will consecrate the temple, he will represent each citizen of India. I hope that this temple will inspire Indians to imbibe the values of Lord Ram.”
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