28 years since Babri Masjid’s demolition: A timeline of events from 1525 to 2020

1853: The site witnessed its first event of religious violence.

1859: British administration built railings to separate the two places of worship. They allowed Muslims to use the inner area while the outer area was given to Hindus. This practice continued for nine decades.

1949: An idol of Lord Ram was secretly placed under the main dome of the mosque.  Later, the government declared shut the gate as a precautionary measure.

1950: A suit was filed in the Faizabad court seeking rights to perform puja there. Another suit was filed to seeking continuation of the religious rituals and keeping idols in the structure.

1959: Nirmohi Akhara, a stakeholder in the dispute filed another suit, seeking direction from the court gets charge of the disputed site.

1984: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) formed a committee under the leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani with the sole aim of setting free the supposed birthplace of Lord Ram by constructing a temple in honour of the lord.

1986: A district court ordered reopening of the site for Hindu worshippers after which the Uttar Pradesh government acquired land surrounding the site for devotees' convenience.

1991: BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh even as the Congress governed at the Centre.

1992: On December 6, kar sevaks (activists) stormed the mosque compound and demolished the Babri mosque in an event that resulted in riots and communal tension across the country.

Events following the demolition of Babri Masjid:

1993: Centre took over 67 acres of the land around the site and sought the top court’s opinion on whether a Hindu place of worship ever existed there before the mosque was built. The same year, the Ayodhya Act 1993 was passed which also allowed a lone priest to worship in the makeshift temple built at the site.

2003: The Allahabad High Court asked Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to carry out an in-depth study and an excavation survey of ascertain what was under the site.

ASI report indicated the presence of a 10th century temple under the site and human activity at the site dating back to the 13th century BC. Muslim groups immediately disputed the ASI findings pointing towards the lack of evidence. However, the report was upheld by the High Court.

2010: Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court ordered partition of the site occupied by the Babri Masjid into three equal parts, among Nirmohi Akhara, Ram Lalla (the deity) and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board.

2011: The Supreme Court stayed orders of the High Court and ordered all sides to maintain the status quo.

2014: BJP added construction of the temple in its 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto. The saffron party also stormed to power at the Centre.

2015: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) launched a nationwide campaign to collect stones for construction of the temple. Later in the year, two trucks of stones arrived in Ayodhya. However, then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav blocked the stones from getting closer to site.

2017: SC urged stakeholders to find an out-of-court settlement. Then chief justice JS Khehar also offered help in settling the fight amicably.

In a separate demolition case, the apex court ordered reopening the criminal conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders such as former deputy prime minister LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, among others.

2017: The Shia Waqf Board filed an application in the top court according to which the Ram temple would be built in Ayodhya and a mosque would be built in Lucknow. However, the proposal faced stiff opposition from the Sunni Waqf Board.

2017: SC moved hearing of appeals to February 2018.

Feb 2018: Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board questioned the court about the hurry and requested that the hearing be put off till July 2019.

September 2018: SC declines to refer the case to a five-judge bench, says case to be heard by a newly-constituted three-judge bench on October 29.

October 29, 2018: SC adjourns hearing in the case till January 4, 2019.

January 4, 2019: Court deferred hearing till January 10.

January 10, 2019: Justice UU Lalit, one of the five-judge Constitution Bench, recused himself from the hearing, after which the SC rescheduled the hearing to January 29.

January 29, 2019: The court postponed its hearing as Justice SA Bobde, one of the five-judge Constitution Bench for the case, was not available.

February 15, 2019: SC decided to hear a fresh plea against the 1993 central law on land acquisition near the disputed site at Ayodhya.

March 2019: SC appointed a mediation panel headed by Judge (Retd.) FMI Kallifulla for an out-of-court settlement.

August 2019: The mediation panel failed to reach an amicable settlement. The top court began hearing on August 6.

October 15, 2019: After hearing the case for 40 days on day-to-day basis, the court reserved its order.

November 9, 2019: In its unanimous verdict, the SC awarded the disputed land to the Centre and instructed it to setup a trust within three months. The trust will be responsible for construction of the temple. The Sunni Waqf Board was given the choice of availing an alternate and suitable five-acre land in Ayodhya.

February 5, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed Parliament about the Union Cabinet’s approval for setting up the ‘Sri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra’ trust for construction of the Ram Mandir.

August 5, 2020: PM Modi laid the foundation for the temple at the site.

September 30, 2020: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh acquitted all 32 accused, including senior BJP leader LK Advani, in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The CBI judge SK Yadav, in his 2,000-page judgement, said there was no criminal conspiracy and that there was not enough evidence to prove that the demolition was pre-planned.