A few decades ago, riding the chariot An SUV in Bihar and certain areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh in the early 1990s, adorned with a vibrant image of Lord Rama brandishing a bow and arrow. Along with a number of other open jeeps and vehicles, his rath was driven by volunteers from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who were chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’ in unison. Lal Krishna Advani, who turns 96 today had set out on a quest to rewrite the hinterlands of north India’s folklore and reconstruct history from a firmly Hindutva viewpoint with this Rath Yatra. Considering the Babri Masjid as a symbol of the invasion of India by Babur, the man who became the country's first Mughal emperor,

Author-Gopi Shah