"Hamara Bhabish hamara atit sey bahut sundar honey jana wala hae
(The way this grand Ram Temple has come up, one can say our Future is going to be much better than our past)",
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his maiden speech at the Temple venue at Ayodhya on Monday, Jan 22, 2024.
(A Secular/sickular refrain is -- The Ayodhya Ram Mandir is squarely a political project, a refrain in the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party’s manifesto since the demolition of the Babri Masjid. -- The fact of the matter it is BJP's agenda since 1989 Palampur meet of the saffron party. And one yet again remembers L K Advani's remarks::
"It is because we are a Hindu nation, that we are secular".
And the essence of this remark remains and is perhaps more relevant than it was during the turbulent days of the 1990s.
“For 500 years Lord Ram was living in a hut,” says Acharya Mohan Bharadwaj referring to the moment the Mughal-era mosque was built.
“Today the whole country is celebrating it like it’s Diwali...Modi made God enter and sit inside a temple," he added.
Earlier in the day, inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple Monday, Modi presided over the Pran Pratishtha, of an idol of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities.
Depicted as a young boy, the statue of black stone was adorned with gold jewelry, gemstones, diamonds and flowers.
Outside, military helicopters flew over the temple and city releasing flower petals over the vast building and crowds of dignitaries below.
Among the speakers at the event was Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“It has been said, and we know, that today in Ayodhya, along with Lord Ram, India’s self has returned,” he said.
Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state where Ayodhya is located and one of the country’s most pro-Hinduta political figures, called the Ram Mandir India’s “national temple” and an “important ritual of cultural reawakening.”
Throughout the day, saffron flags flew high and marigold flowers adorned building entrances as tens of thousands of devotees thronged the streets of the ancient town in celebratory processions.
Modi's speech on the occasion is being interpreted as the PM equating Rashtra country with the God himself. He has not been vague either.
The Prime Minister did not directly mention the Babri Masjid in his speech, nor the country's Muslims but said, "Ram is not a dispute. Ram is the solution".
"We have seen it all, there was a time in this country some people used to say if Ram temple is built, the country will burn, (there will be violence); such people never bothered to understand the strength of India's social values".
The Prime Minister also threw them (such political detractors and the prophets of doom) a challenge and said -- the construction of this temple shows communal harmony and mutual understanding and patience.
"Hum dekh rahen haen, yeh nirma, Kisi aag ko nahin, kisi urja ko Janm de raha hae
(Today, we can all very well see, this grand construction has not put anything on fire, but it has triggered new sources of Energy)".
An Indian artist dressed as God Ram arrives at Ayodhya on Jan 21, 2024
But skeptics have their own opinion.
"If India is to become a country where all religious communities live together in harmony working together for the common good, then there should be a downplaying of rituals and religious pageantry in favor of development goals — education, health, employment, prosperity, and ecological sustainability" -- goes a column in popular Catholic website UCA News (UCAN).
Did the same columnist counsel Muslims during their years of conflict to show such restrains or Catholic Christians would like to be told how to conduct Christian rituals/prayer sessions or protestants often allegedly 'shouting' as with many tribal societies remain tobe debated nevertheless.
But counseling the toothless Hindus has been a fashion statement, and it may continue in some pockets by spreading stories of Hindu attacks or fear mongering. But the big message is such schools of thought need to do some soul searching etc etc
To such 'detractors' and also political opponents like the Congress who would seek Hindu votes but also announce public boycott of Jan 22 ceremony, Modi himself says:
"I want to appeal to such people, come and try to feel the people's pulse. Try to gauge their mind...have an introspect on your thoughts (that India will burn if there is Temple) ... you will find Ram does not spread hatred or violene".
"Ram aag nahi haen".
"Ram Urja haen (Ram is not a source of 'fire', he is instead a might source of Energy".
"Ram is not a dispute, Ram is a Solution"
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| UP CM, Yogi Adityanath |
CNN report says:
"While millions of Hindus celebrated the opening of the much-awaited complex, which is seen by them as the birthplace of Ram, for the country’s minority Muslim population, it’s a painful reminder of religious divisions they fear are becoming more pronounced under Modi’s BJP government.
The site of the temple was once home to the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque, built during the Mughal empire that ruled India from 1526 to 1858.
But the location has been disputed for decades.
Hindus believe the mosque was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple, allegedly destroyed by Babar, the first Mughal emperor of South Asia.
In 1992, spurred on by the BJP and other right-wing groups, Hindu hardliners attacked the mosque, triggering widespread communal violence that killed more than 2,000 people nationwide.
The violence was some of the worst seen in India since the bloody clashes that accompanied partition following independence in 1947, says the CNN.
There is apparently yet another repeated round of suggestions, -- hey Hindus, for peace and harmony, you continue to make compromise and allow minorities to rule the roost.
Modi's or for that matter the people of India have now given a clear message ---- nothing doing sirs. Keep the advise for your own countries and so-called western societies.
ends
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