Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on Wednesday after laying the foundation stone of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, said that he bows down to those who worked to make the dream of the temple come true.
Even before his speech, BJP leaders on Twitter had already begin doing so, and in a worrying manner—by openly praising the kar sevaks who tore down the Babri Masjid, along with a video from December 5, 1992, a dark day for Indian democracy.
While last year, the Supreme Court did allow the building of a Ram temple where the mosque once stood, in 2017, it had also referred to the demolition of the mosque as a crime that “shook the secular fabric of the Constitution”.
But some political leaders of the country seem to have forgotten that while the Ram Janmabhoomi title suite has been settled — with many Muslims calling the decision unjust — the Babri demolition case is still being heard by the apex court. Senior BJP leaders including L.K. Advani and Uma Bharti are being tried for criminal conspiracy.
Not just trolls, office holders of the BJP were also celebrating the demolition, which also led to riots that killed thousands.
While Prime Minister Modi claimed in his speech that the temple was a symbol of love and unity, tweets from members of his party showed otherwise.
Here are some samples:
BL Santosh is the National General Secretary of the BJP.
Gaurav Goel is the state spokesperson of the BJP in Chandigarh.
Y. Satya Kumar is also a national secretary of the BJP.
Harsh Paghdar is an ABVP activist and member of the RSS.
The tweet shared by Gaurav Goel and Harsh Pagdhar, along with the video from 1992, has been replicated by thousands of accounts on Wednesday.
This is not the first time that BJP leaders have refused to express regret on Babri. BJP leaders such Uma Bharti and Pragya Thakur have openly said they do not regret the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
As the ceremony took place, many Twitter users remembered that the demolition of the mosque had been described by many media outlets then as a day of national shame. Some also expressed guilt and regret on the occasion.
Here’s what people said: