'1986: Key Events

• The district judge of Faizabad orders the opening of the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya to Hindu worshippers. According to fanatical Hindus, the mosque, built in 1528, stands on the spot where Ram, a Hindu god, was born. The Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) is formed.

• G. M. Shah’s ministry in Kashmir is dissolved and Kashmir is brought under President’s rule.

• The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Bill, better known as the Shah Bano Bill, follows the Supreme Court’s judgment ordering Mohammed Ahmed Khan of Indore to pay alimony to his divorced wife Shah Bano. The Supreme Court is accused of violating the Shariat (the Koranic Commandments) by the Muslim Personal Law Board, and the government, to win conservative Muslim support, passes a Bill taking away all rights from divorced Muslim women.

• The assets of the top 574 companies identified by the Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Act are, on average, Rs. 70.24 crore, almost double the value of Indian subsidiaries of foreign multinationals.

• The actress Smita Patil dies, aged 31.

• The Calcutta-based journal Splice starts, edited by Samik Bandyopadhyay. It lasts for four issues.