New Delhi
India is no longer confused. On Feb 10, last day of the proceedings of the 17th Lok Sabha, the House took up a 'general discussion' under Rule 193 on Ram temple and Pran-Pratishtha.
Home Minister Amit Shah says, "No one can read the history of this country by ignoring the Ram Mandir movement. Since 1528, every generation has seen this movement in some form or the other. This matter remained stuck for a long time. This dream had to be fulfilled during the time of the Modi government...".
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi says ".....Am I a spokesperson of Babar, Jinnah or Aurangzeb?...I respect Lord Ram but I hate Nathuram Godse because he killed the person whose last words were 'Hey Ram'...".
India finds itself now plunged into a debate of different sorts. It is a combo of the role of judiciary, faith and politics. In terms of priorities or importance these three elements may not be in that order. But the debate is on nevertheless. Essentially the debate emanates from the proposition -- whether or not India is already a Hindu Rashra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown a unique dynamism and shrewdness n making India 'a Hindu Rashtra' virtually without bringing any major constitutional changes as many would have presumed.
History will refer to these times - bone chilling winter weeks of Jan-Feb 2024 - as the "Ram-Leher (wave)" moments - the momentous occasion when the nation had to choose between post-1947 'secular Republic' and the days of Hindu hegemony. And a decision has been made.
Even president of influential pro-Muslim party, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) Kerala leader, Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal. has stated that the newly the consecrated Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the proposed mosque (that will be built) are both symbols of secularism, and the Muslim community should think about the future instead of complaining.
Many in his home state do not approve of such a stance. They say, IUML leader has only borrowed the RSS language. Many years back, eminent jurist Nani Palkhivala, a religious minority Parsi, had said rather prophetically that-- 'Ayodhya is a shorthand for a civil dispute with a rich potential for civil war and confrontation between Hindus and Muslims'.
Well, India has reached the second stage, no doubt. "The soul of India can no longer yearn for inter-religious harmony. It is because that soul is lost. The urgent need for the country is to undergo a catharsis....It's sad, the BJP leaders, chauvinist men and women who mobilised Hindus against Muslims are now treated as India's national heroes," remarked an Urdu scholar in Mumbai -- albeit with the request not to name him.
His reference is to the Modi government's decision to confer 'Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India)' - India's highest civilian award to L K Advani, a patriarch of Bharatiya Janata Party and a former Deputy Prime Minister. Advani was among the 32 men who once were named in chargesheet and were "cleared" in 2019 of inciting the violence in December 1992 that led to the razing of the 16th-century mosque in the city of Ayodhya.
Of course the Hindu mob also included members of the BJP and the fountainhead RSS who alleged that the Babri mosque stood on the ruins of a Hindu temple built for Lord Ram.
A Christian leader and a former Congressman, S C Jamir in Nagaland, applauded the move to honour Advani saying, "Veteran Advani would always be remembered for bringing about a major transition in Indian politics especially since the 1990s".
Jamir was a former Governor of Gujarat and reportedly established good working relations with the then state Chief Minister Narendra Modi. For all reasons, in Indian polity and governance - one name and factor that matters the most in 2024 is 'Narendra Modi'.
With Jan 22, 2024 Ram temple inauguration done -- the BJP and other Hindu organisations are now eyeing other such 'controversial Masjids which were built over a period by Mughal and other Muslim rulers over the ruins of Hindu temples'.
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| Jamir with blogger: 'Ayodhya - Battle for Peace' |
The Gyanvapi Masjid in the holy pilgrim city of Varanasi, parliamentary constituency of PM Modi, is one such disputed structure. The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic places of worship that Hindu activists, backed by Modi’s BJP have sought for years to 'reclaim' for their religion.
A district court in Varanasi has also ordered that Hindu worshippers — who believe the 17th century mosque was built to replace a 'destroyed temple' dedicated to God Shiva — would be allowed to pray in the building’s basement.
Prayers in Gyanvapi Masjid complex which were last offered in December 1993 will now have to resume within the next seven days, said the judge A K Vishvesha.
“The District Magistrate, Varanasi is directed that puja (prayers) be done by a priest — named by the Kashi Vishwanath Trust and the plaintiffs — of idols at the western cellar," the order said. Obviously, Muslims today stand rattled.
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(both snaps: Ayodhya, 2010)
According to a vocal Muslim lawmaker from Hyderabad, Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM. "Narendra Modi wants to write a new history of India...what he wants to write? He wants to write that it is I (Modi) who has made India - the land of Mahatma Gandhi - a HinduRashtra".
Not to be surprised, he made the statement in the Lok Sabha (House of the people) of Indian parliament. Analysts and political opponents of BJP now say, 'courts after courts' in Narendra Modi's 'new India' are backing the Hindu side of the story and litigation.
"The Supreme Court verdict on Abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir was an insult to the history of the judiciary in the country,"says Marxist leader M A Baby. "Without resorting to Fascism directly, PM Modi will get his job done. Even the Supreme Court ensures to pronounce verdicts that do not cause any harm to the PM".
Well, Baby's contention is not in isolation. Today, in India the 'sense' of reasoning based on the grounding of facts is a fast vanishing commodity.
Faith is more vital.
In fact, analysts are arguing "how much importance" ought to be given to the element of Faith especially when it comes to conflict between majority Hindus and other religious minorities especially Muslims.
Whether a Faith is justified or not -- in effect lies beyond the ken -- that is one's range of knowledge - of any judicial probe.
Faith is a matter for the individual believer. This cannot be synonymous even among blood brothers. The Ayodhya Ram temple verdict of 2019 was based on Faith -- essentially. Now such a thing has started surfacing even for what was once a Shiva temple in Varanasi.
There are other temples such as a former Lord Krishna temple in Mathura -- also in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh -- which is notorious for religious polarisation. Like Ayodhya, Hindus believe God Krishna was born in a prison cell in Mathura. The Hindu side says that the 'Shahi Idgah mosque' was built on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb sits atop Lord Krishna's birthplace in Mathura.
In fact, there can be no end to such a list of disputed structures. In 1991, a Place of Worship Act was enacted by the federal government of the centrist Congress party so that status quo can be maintained on the 'places of worship' as in 1947- when the country got independence.
But the festering wounds of Muslim hegemony days haunt Hindus. They probably want about 3000 such Masjids to be 'revived' as Hindu temples. Not surprisingly, bulldozers knocked down a centuries-old mosque called Masjid Akhonji in India’s capital on Feb 1.
The Masjid Akhonji is about 600 years old, and was home to 22 students enrolled in an Islamic boarding school.
Now, where are things moving towards and where will it ultimately end ? RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat is now expressing 'optimism' about India's rise and self-identification, attributing it to the arrival of Ram Lalla (infant Hindu deity) in the newly constructed temple in Ayodhya.
He says while India gained independence 75 years ago, it took considerable time for the nation to truly embrace its self-esteem and Indianness. Neglect of Indianness either by governments or the people themselves must end, he says.
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| Gyanvapi: Varanasi |
On Jan 22 at Ayodhya temple venue, he said, "God Ram left Ayodhya because there were disputes...Ram Rajya is coming and we have to shun all the disputes". The message was perhaps more for Muslims than his Hindu brothers and sisters. But the BJP leaders say to promote Secularism after 1947 as 'anti-Religion' in a strictly religious society was erroneous in itself.
Some social workers agree partly.
"Religion has been India's ethos and its strengths. Failing to hold Religion at a spiritual height, we failed to use it as a tool of unity. Communism's influence under Jawaharlal Nehru made people irreligious.
We started fighting among ourselves. We blamed Religion and not ourselves. Today, we might be confronting with politics of 1947 era, but gradually the Hindu-Muslim unity will re-emerge after a churning," says Assam-based Ashutosh Talukdar.
In 2020, a local Hindu resident of Ayodhya, S. Rakesh had said, "The Supreme Court verdict has proved that Rama was born in flesh and blood and he is not a mere Kalpana (myth). This is our biggest satisfaction".
In 1898, Swami Vivekananda reportedly said, "The perfect India of the future will arise out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with Vedanta brain and Islamic body".
India has a unique cultural history.
No one really knows whether the great poet Kabir was a Muslim or a Hindu. In 2024, India turns 77 as a modern nation, and is certainly at a turning point in its civilisational history.
ends
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