Conflict of Muslims and Hindus over the City of Ayodhya (1949-2018)

پژوهش نامه ایرانی سیاست بین الملل

Article 4, Volume 8, Issue 1, September 2019, Pages 77-96   

Document Type: مقالات

DOI: 10.22067/ijip.v8i1.74136

Authors

Hamid Shamsiyanfard; Mohammad Abolfathi^* ; Masoud Akhavan Kazemi

Razi University

Abstract

Abstract
One of the important issues at present is the spread of religious conflicts that have affected the society and politics of different countries. The purpose of the article is to understand the roots of the conflict of Muslims and Hindus over the city of Ayodhya. The main question of the article is why there has been a conflict between Muslims and Hindus over this city? Ayodhya is an old city in the north of India. Hindus believe the city is the birthplace of Rama. In Hinduism, Rama is an avatar (embodiment) of the Hindu god called Vishnu. Hindus say that Babur the king of Gurkani destroyed the temple of Rama to build the Babri Masjid. From the middle of the nineteenth century to the present, a conflict between Muslims and Hindus took place to control Ayodhya. In 1992, this conflict led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid by an angry mob of Hindus. In this article, the role of perception of threat, the interaction between religious leaders and political officials, and social and material power resources have been examined in the conflict of Muslims and Hindus. The process tracing method has been used which explains the conflict based on causal narrative. The method of data analysis is qualitative explanatory method. The literature review shows the innovation of this research. The conclusions show that the three suggested hypotheses are important factors that explain the conflict of Muslims and Hindus over this city.

Keywords

Ayodhya city; Muslims; Hindus; Religious leaders; Political officials

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