On the 6th of December 1992, karsevaks had waited for more than a year since the Supreme Court had promised the nation a judgement on the Ram Janmabhoomi case.



So, betrayed by the highest court of the land, they decided to destroy the domes atop the then functioning Ram Mandir.

For an ordinary Indian Muslim, the establishment press and Marxist historians had created an impression that what was destroyed was indeed a mosque.



They had also created an impression, quite contrary to the reality, that the Hindu side relied on ‘myths’ and not on facts.



In truth, the Hindu side had brought in enough empirical evidence, historical, archaeological and literary, to prove that the temple was there and was destroyed by an invader.

So, for an average Indian Muslim who was led led to believe that it was a mosque indeed that was destroyed, it should have been traumatic.



That was exactly what was intended. Soon, trauma would give into rage and riots and bomb blasts across India.

And let it be clear the blood of innocent Hindus and Muslims killed in those riots, rests squarely on the hands of those propagandists who led the Muslims to believe that there was no evidence for temple in Ayodhya and that what was destroyed was indeed a mosque.

It was under such a chaotic scenario that the, ‘Centre for Policy Studies’ (CPS), in Chennai (then Madras), decided to bring in some of the best minds from across the ideological and religious spectrum and have them talk it out.



The participants, to name a few, included author and politician Arun Shourie (in his previous iteration), Sanjiv Guhan emeritus professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Abdus Samad a veteran leader of Muslim League, S Gurumurthy Swadeshi campaigner, K N Govindacharya then general secretary of the BJP, Casimir Gnanadickam the Archbishop of Madras Catholic Church.



They were joined by Dharampal the pioneering historian and Gandhian.

There were serious discussions and dialogues. After listening intently to all the discussions, Dharampal that grand old man who initiated a paradigm shift in viewing and writing Indian history, started to talk.



Here are a few excerpts from what he said then, which is relevant even today.

Then there was a big rumour and accusation that there was actually a conspiracy to destroy the structure and it was all well planned. Dharampal took up this and said