It was on Dec 6, 1992, when a mob owing allegiance to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and related organisations overran the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, and brought down the shrine in just six hours.
The calamitous event triggered nationwide rioting and sowed the seeds of Muslim anger India was not prepared for.
It also led to the rise and rise of the BJP, eventually catapulting it to power nationally in 1998.
George Mathew, chairman of the Institute of Social Sciences, said that mass determination not to look back has acted as a check against a repeat of such an incident.
