->Orenburg1 at 10:23, 17 December 2021

2021-12-17T10:23:36Z

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{{Orphan|date=August 2020}}

'''Baba Lal Das''' was a Hindu priest of the idols of the deity [[Rama]] placed within the [[Babri Masjid]] complex in [[Ayodhya]].<ref name="TOI-16-Nov">{{Cite web|date=16 November 2019|title=26 years ago, former Ram Lalla priest was shot dead|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/26-yrs-ago-former-ram-lalla-priest-was-shot-dead/articleshow/72079187.cms|website=Times of India}}</ref><ref name = "TW-2019">{{Cite web|date=13 November 2019|title=Ayodhya's Forgotten Mahant and His Message of Peace|url=https://thewire.in/communalism/ayodhya-ram-mandir-baba-lal-das|website=The Wire}}</ref><ref name="EPW 1994">{{cite journal |last1=Agnes |first1=Flavia |title=Murder of Former Temple Priest at Ayodhya: Report of Fact-Finding Team |journal=Economic & Political Weekly |date=5 February 1994 |volume=29 |issue=6 |pages=285-287 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4400751}}</ref> He was appointed to his position by the [[Lucknow High Court]] in 1981.<ref name="EPW 1994"/> Lal Das was a vocal opponent of the agitation by the [[Vishva Hindu Parishad]] and its [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalist]] allies to build a temple at the site,<ref name="TOI-16-Nov" /> and criticized it in the 1992 documentary ''[[Ram ke Naam]]''.<ref name="EPW 1994"/> Lal Das was removed from his position by the [[Uttar Pradesh]] government led by the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) in March 1992.<ref name = "TW-2019"/> Shortly afterward, in December 1992, the [[Demolition of the Babri Masjid|Babri Masjid was demolished]]: Lal Das became a key witness in the suit brought against leaders of the [[Vishwa Hindu Parishad]] and the BJP by the [[Central Bureau of Investigation]] (CBI).<ref name="EPW 1994"/> On 16 November 1993, Lal Das was shot dead in the middle of the night in Ranipur Chattar village, 20 km from Ayodhya. The CBI took over the investigation of the case in 1994 and charged two people for murder over a land dispute.<ref name = "TW-2019"/> At the time of his death, a case he had brought to the High Court challenging his dismissal had yet to be resolved.<ref name="EPW 1994"/> Lal Das was seen as a promoter of religious harmony between Hindus and Muslims in the region.<ref name="TOI-16-Nov" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[category:Ayodhya dispute]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians]]
[[Category:People from Ayodhya]]

Baba Lal Das - Revision history

->Orenburg1 at 10:23, 17 December 2021