Gen Z may not know who these ladies are, but Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara played important roles in the Ram Mandir movement for the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allied organisations in the early 1990s.
Uma Bharti -- who was alleged to have exhorted the kar sevaks on December 6, 1992 to 'ek dhakka aur do', later became Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Union minister -- and Sadhvi Ritambhara -- who was the founder-president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Durga Vahini and delivered fiery speeches on behalf of the Sangh Parivar -- were charged by the CBI in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
They were acquitted by a special court on September 30, 2020.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
'When they see me, even chain smokers stub their cigarettes'
December 6, 1992, A Memoir
Demolition was a failure of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement
'Happy SC accepted it is Ram Janambhoomi'