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the return of Afghan Arabs to their homes, this period saw a massive influx
of Pakistan-backed militants into Kashmir and the insurgency dominated
much of the 1990s (Ganguly 1996 ). As India was coming to terms with
the end of the Cold War and initiating economic reforms, Kashmir became
its primary foreign policy challenge (Ganguly and Bajpai 1994 ). Reflecting
these sentiments, the Dakar summit which met in December 1991 urged
India “to allow International Human Rights Groups and Humanitarian
Organizations to visit Jammu and Kashmir” and urged the Secretary
General of the OIC to send a three-member “fact-finding mission” to the
state (OIC 1991 ).
A far more severe issue confronted India when Hindutva elements
demolished the controversial four-century-old Babri Masjid in Ayodhya
on 6 December 1992. This led to a spate of communal violence in differ-
ent parts of the country wherein the Muslims bore the brunt of mob
frenzy and an estimated 1000–2000 people, predominantly Muslims,
were killed in the post-demolition communal violence (Graff and
Galonnier 2013 ; State Bureau Reports 2011 ).
India’s diplomatic fortunes were already low due to the ineffective
handling of the Kuwait crisis (Malik 1991 ). The mosque demolition
evoked considerable anger and displeasure in many Arab and Islamic
countries, but given the magnitude of the problem, the response was more
palatable and manageable. Partly siding with the explanations offered by
the government of P. V. Narasimha Rao, a statement issued by the Saudi
Foreign Ministry “expressed deep sorrow over the attempts by some irre-
sponsible elements in India intending to harm the sentiments of Muslims
and attack their faith” (Pasha 1995 ). The GCC of which Saudi Arabia is a
key member adopted a resolution on “Aggression against the Babri
Mosque” in its 13th summit held in Abu Dhabi in December 1992. Using
a stronger language, it called on the Indian government to take immediate
steps to protect the Muslim minority population and restore confidence
among them (Pasha 1995 , 26–27).
The 21st Foreign Ministers Conference held in Karachi in April 1993
“strongly condemned the destruction of the historic Babri Mosque in
Ayodhya by the extremist Hindus and called upon the Government of
India to reconstruct the Babri Mosque at its original site” (OIC 1993 ).
The seventh OIC summit which met in Casablanca in December 1994
clubbed India with situations in “Palestine ... Bosnia-Herzegovina” and
expressed “its deep concern over the killing of the Muslims and the aggres-
sion against their holy places... (and) renewed its call upon the Government
of India to reconstruct the Babri Mosque at its original site” (OIC 1994 ).
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR