Photo Feature: Life in Ayodhya, 24 Years After the Babri Masjid Demolition
The gentle rhythms of the religious town of Ayodhya continue as they have for millennia. It is a sleepy little town, where life slows down to a halt by dusk. Nobody stopping by would guess that this place was the epicentre of an upheaval that rocked India just 24 years ago, when frenzied Hindutva mobs demolished a 400-year-old mosque claiming that it was the birthplace of Ram. The scene of that destruction, that changed the country forever, is now sealed off pending a Supreme Court judgement on what will be built there, but the topic is never far from discussion, and not always in a constructive way. Security is visible, to ensure that matters don’t get out of hand. Shome Basu brings images from Ayodhya that remind us that the past is always with us in the present.
All images by Shome Basu.
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