To commemorate the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, and its ratification by the Supreme Court of India on November 9, 2019, the government of Uttar Pradesh is building a mosque-cum-multi-utility complex in Dhannipur village, 22 km from the original site. Perhaps, this is the first monument to be built to cherish defeat.
The vision of the grand mosque complex includes a hospital, a library, a museum as well as a cultural centre in a village that lacks the most basic civic amenities, but already has too many mosques and too few worshippers. For the visionaries of the Dhannipur monument, however, this is mere quibbling by the nay-sayers. The structure is not meant for the locals, but for the thousands of tourists who will come from across the world to see what was built in lieu of the mosque that was clawed down brick by brick by a frenzied mob.
Of course, these thousands of tourists will first visit the victory monument in Ayodha, the grandest Ram temple…