British rulers used to call Hindu religious leaders and pay them to speak against Muslims so do they hire clerics against Hindus
The Babri Masjid Dispute
Many Muslim extremists were adamant about sparking up the rumor of the demolition of a mosque near Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya into a major communal dispute. These extremists were led by Maulvi Mohammad Saleh and Shah Ghulam Hussain who determined that the mosque be rebuilt near Hanuman Garhi.
While Nawab Wajid Ali Shah tried hard to convince him otherwise, he paid no heed. The Nawab gave the responsibility of resolving this dispute to Agha Ali Khan, the governor of Sultanpur, and his minister Raja Man Singh, but they could come to no solution and grabbling with the matter and on 26 July 1855, a group of zealous Muslims under the leadership of Maulvi Saleh and Shah Ghulam Hussain stormed into Ayodhya. After reaching Ayodhya, they stayed stubbornly on the premises of Babri Masjid.
As soon as the people of Ayodhya got information about the arrival of Muslims, thousands of people gathered and attacked them in throngs killing many people while the rest fled for their lives.
This incident had an impact in other cities of Awadh with tension spreading in many places. Some extremist elements started inciting the Muslims and under instigation, Muslims gathered under the leadership of Maulvi Amir Ali Amethavi, a resident of the Amethi area of Awadh, and decided to avenge the Muslims killed inside the Babri Masjid and rebuild the mosque.
The Awadh government tried hard to convince them to walk on the path of peace, but they did not pay heed.
Committee of Ulema Did Not Support Violence
On August 30, 1855, a fact-finding team of Ulema was sent to Ayodhya to find out the truth. This committee of Ulema called the demolition of a mosque baseless but said that the families of those who died in Ayodhya should be given blood (financial compensation), but this verdict of the Ulema was rejected by Maulvi Amir Ali who instigated Muslims to go on Jihad.
On the website Indian History Collective, Valay Singh has written on this dispute commenting “With the ongoing mosque dispute in Ayodhya, the Governor-General of the British, Lord Dalhousie, was expecting that the Ayodhya matter would get so hot that the whole of Awadh would be bathed in blood. ” That is why he had threatened Wajid Ali Shah that if he could not control Amir Ali, he would be ousted from power.
Wajid Ali Shah’s Negotiations of Peace
To solve the matter, Wajid Ali Shah proposed to Amir Ali that he would build another mosque in Ayodhya and sent a huge amount on his behalf to Mecca and Medina, but while Amir Ali accepted all these things, still declared Jihad.
However, the great Sunni ulema of that time, Maulvi Saadullah and Mufti Muhammad Yusuf, and Shia religious leader Maulana Sayyed Ahmed, criticized Amir Ali’s slogan of jihad and called it an un-Islamic campaign. All this fell on deaf ears and Amir Ali along with his companions left for Ayodhya from Lucknow on November 5, 1855 AD. Wajid Ali Shah once again sent Sheikh Hussain Ali to convince him to stop, but he was hellbent on doing Jihad.
Wajid Ali Shah in a Battle Stopped Amir Ali’s Jihad
When Amar Ali went a few miles ahead with his comrades, the British army led by General Barlow came before him near Ridauli, after which a war broke out between the two where 400 soldiers of Amir Ali and 80 soldiers of the British were killed. Wajid Ali Shah did not allow the Ayodhya dispute to spread in Awadh.
The British in India Are Said to Have Played Divide and Rule causing Hindu-Muslim Disputes
However, within three months of this incident, Wajid Ali Shah was removed from office by the British on 11 February 1856 AD.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Markande Katju, in an article published in The Nation, wrote about the Hindu-Muslim dispute stating, “There was no religious problem in India until 1857. There were many differences between Hindus and Muslims. Such as Hindus used to go to temples and Muslims used to go to mosques but there was no enmity between them. In fact, Hindus and Muslims helped each other. If Hindus celebrated Eid with Muslims, Muslims celebrated Holi and Diwali with Hindus.
Muslim rulers Like Mughal, Nawab of Awadh, Nawab of Murshidabad, and Tipu Sultan, etc. were all religiously neutral, he used to organize Ramlila and also participated in Holi, Diwali, etc. Just as Ghalib used to write letters to his Hindu friends Munshi Shiv Narayan Aram and Hargopal Taffeta etc. All this reveals the close bond and affinity between Hindus and Muslims.
When the rebellion broke out in 1857, Hindus and Muslims fought together against Britain. This shocked the British government so much that after he suppressed the rebellion, they adopted a divide and rule policy. All the religious riots started after 1857 which were created by the British rulers. They used to call Hindu religious leaders and pay them to speak against Muslims as well as pay clerics to speak against Hindus. This is how communal poison got mixed with our politics. (To be continued)