E/CN.4/1997/91/Add.1 page 10 39. Many of the persons with whom the Special Rapporteur spoke drew his attention to several places of worship that had been destroyed. 40. The Special Rapporteur was supplied with abundant information concerning the destruction, on 6 December 1992, of Babri-Masjid at Ayodhya and realized that this tragedy had deeply traumatized the Indian people and their various religious communities. The background of these events and of the controversy surrounding this religious site which is a bone of contention between Muslims, who venerated it as a mosque, and Hindus who were trying to build a temple on what is said to be the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram, were the subject of several communications addressed by the Special Rapporteur to the Indian authorities [communication of 10 November 1993 (E/CN.4/1994/79); and communication of 5 September 1994 (E/CN.4/1995/91)]. 41. Most of the information collected during the visit to India confirmed the responsibility of the State Government at the time and of the ultra-nationalist Hindu Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrangdal and Bharathiyo Janata (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) parties, whose members had infiltrated the crowd, planned the destruction of Babri-Masjid and brought about the death of Muslim demonstrators, the pillage of Muslim houses and shops as well as the Bombay riots (see paras. 52-54 below), by setting the religious stakes ever higher in order to gain political advantage among the population. 42. The Special Rapporteur noted the determination with which the central authorities reacted; they had dispatched security forces which, unfortunately, the State authorities had deliberately refrained from using; then, after having energetically condemned the incident they had dissolved the Government of the State on 6 October 1992 - the very day of the attack. 43. Apart from the written replies of the authorities to the Special Rapporteur's communications (E/CN.4/1994/79 and E/CN.4/1995/91), an official note, updating the measures taken following the destruction of Babri Masjid, was transmitted to clarify this extremely sensitive matter (see annex). 44. In the light of the information received, the Special Rapporteur notes that the appeal concerning the ownership of this religious site is still pending before the Supreme Court. However, it would appear that this highly symbolic and emotionally and religiously charged question cannot be resolved simply by the settlement of a purely property dispute. The fact that its settlement will take time admittedly offers a breathing space, but it might also consolidate and render irreversible a new de facto situation, since a shaky structure used as a Hindu temple and a place of worship remains on the ruins of Babri Masjid. 45. According to official and non-government observers, the destruction of Babri Masjid was an incident, an aberration, the result of the political exploitation of religion by ultra-nationalist political parties, and cannot be interpreted as evidence of an official policy of religious intolerance directed against Muslims.