Skip to main content

A few questions we must ask ourselves about the situation surrounding the Babri Masjid/ Ram Mandir controversy

Ayodhya Ram Janambhoomi: राम मंदिर- विवाद से ...

August 5, 2020, was a historic day in India for two reasons. First, it was a year since the special status of J&K was revoked, and the state was converted into Union Territories; it resulted in it being directly controlled by the Central Government in Delhi and no longer controlled by an elected government under the federal setup. It was simultaneously followed with a year-long (and still ongoing) internet and communications blockade. Second, it was a day celebrated by right-wing Hindu nationalists because of the 

ground-breaking ceremony (Bhoomi Pooja/ Puja) that was held to begin construction of a temple for Lord Ram; a temple being built on a land where a mosque that was demolished by close allies of the BJP in 1992 lay. Reaching this point was not easy. It was a struggle that lasted for decades, multiple cases in court, contributions from the Archaeological Survey of India, claims of Muslims invaders building a mosque over a temple etc. The court finally ruled in favour a temple (mandir) being built on the grounds of where a mosque (masjid) lay till 1992.


But, I have some questions, not only related to the verdict but also to the situation under which certain things have happened, some deep and thought provoking, some extremely petty but nevertheless, valid.


Would the court have ruled the same if 1992 had not happened?


The demolition of the masjid in 1992 was an illegal act carried out by Hindu-extremists. The Supreme Court, while delivering the judgement in 2019, repeated that while the verdict was in favour of the mandir, the perpetrators of violence are still not excused and should face a court. This raises another question. 

It is a well-established fact that the demolition was illegal. Even certain Right Wing Hindu nationalists in support of the mandir, agree that the destruction that happened in 1992 was unlawful. I have a simple question. 

While we agree that the demolition was illegal and should have ideally waited for the court to decide what has to be done (as is done in any nation with a functioning legal system), could it not be argued that the court *may* have been influenced by the fact that the masjid was already demolished in 1992 when giving their verdict in 2019? I find it hard to believe that the court, in 2019, would have ruled the same way (in favour of a temple) if there was a mosque still standing. Would the court really have sanctioned the demolition of a religious place of worship? Doubtful. It is hence fair to say that the illegal demolition has, probably, to a certain extent, influenced the court's decision. An illegal act of violence, charting a course for a favourable verdict for the people who caused the violence in the first place is disgraceful.


Why August 5?


The one sentence paragraph between the introduction and the first question mentioned that I will be speaking about things that are 'petty but nevertheless, valid'. 

The date may be a mere coincidence and I hope I am wrong. But choosing a relevant date is almost never a coincidence. Why was August 5, the 1 year anniversary of a blackout and revocation of special privileges in the Muslim majority former state of J&K not only chosen as a date for the Bhoomi Pooja but it being the very Bhoomi Pooja that was attended by Hindutva-BJP leaders? I struggle to convince myself that the date was chosen by random luck and not by any malicious thoughts or ideas. Could they have not been a tad bit compassionate or thoughtful before making such a decision that is hurtful to the Muslim community? Petty but nevertheless, valid, or so I think.


Is the comparison of the demolition of the Babri Masjid with the removal of Confederate Statues fair? 


What irks me about the arguments made by those in favour of the demolition is the comparison to Confederate statues being taken down under the #BLM banner. The profoundly flawed argument says that brutal Muslim invaders destroyed a temple (which may or may not have existed, but let's assume that they are right) and built a mosque. Because of that heinous act, the demolition of the Babri Masjid is justified. What supporters of this argument fail to see is that the demolition of the supposed temple happened during a time of wars, invasions and tyranny. The demolition of the Babri Masjid happened in an established and so far, mostly stable Constitutional Democracy. What's worse, is that leaders of the current ruling party were directly or indirectly associated with the protestors who turned violent and massacred 2000 people. What separates what our Constitution strives to be, and how the situation was when Muslim invaders demolished a holy temple, is that they were akin to brutes (as were many imperialistic kings of that time, be it Hindu or Muslim) and nothing similar to the stability and order that we should be living in, or rather, should have been living in 1992 under the banners of Constitutionalism, the rule of law and civility.


Further, statues of Confederate leaders are taken down because of the principles the people after whom those statues have been made held when they were alive. White supremacy is not something that anyone, irrespective of political beliefs should believe in, or follow, simply because it is discriminatory. However, the Babri Masjid, in 1992 was used by peace-loving Muslims who had nothing to do with the Mughals or any other Muslim invaders. It was used to practise Islam, which is permitted and by no means illegal or wrong, unlike what statues of Confederate leaders stood for. Yes, Muslim invaders *may* have destroyed a temple during a time when wars were and battles were the norm. How does this justify the demolition of a religious place of worship today, in a constitutional democracy ? No idea.


However, a valid question about the original habitants/ users of the land is often asked, but how far back in history should we go?   


Has secularism as we know it, come to an end?


On the front of the event being orchestrated and led by BJP leaders, and how it's against the principles of secularism, consider the following.

Let's begin by defining secularism. Secularism is a principle that refers to the separation of state (power) from religion/ religious institutions. The Ram Mandir issue has been nothing short of controversy. It has attracted media attention world over for various reasons; both good and bad. 

The principles of secularism apply to political parties too. This was reiterated in the S.R Bommai v. Union of India Case (1994) in which the court said that religion and State power cannot be mixed because if a political party comes to power by espousing a particular religion, that religion becomes the de facto 'official religion' and the others are relegated to a secondary position. "The encroachment of religion into secular activities is strictly prohibited", said The Court. How is this related to the groundbreaking ceremony?{1}


Even if we choose to forget the politicisation of the demolition of the masjid and the court case ever since, one simply cannot argue against the fact that the Ram Mandir Bhoomi Puja ceremony was exceedingly politicised. From Ayodhya being draped in saffron to billboards having Modi's, the UP CM, Yogi Adityanath's, the RSS (a sister-organization of the BJP) Chief's photos alongside Lord Ram, the city was decked up no less than a banquet hall before a wedding. Why is this relevant?


This Bhoomi Puja (ground-breaking ceremony) is no ordinary ceremony. It cannot be compared to a campaign visit of a politician to any other temple just before an election, or an iftar party organised by one during Ramadan. The Bhoomi Puja is the result of decades of court battles, an illegal demolition and finally, a verdict in 2019, that was thankfully accepted peacefully by Muslims. The pooja created a big stir and for the BJP to swoop in and take credit for it is against the principles of secularism, especially the points that were reiterated in the S.R Bommai case (w.r.t political parties espousing a specific religion making it the de facto 'official religion' and them encroaching into religious activities). They have quite clearly displayed a religious preference and made their religious beliefs even more evident (than before), and I think that is nothing but a slap on secularism when top-brass politicians (the PM of a country included!!) attend and play a central role in the Bhoomi Pooja of a temple that is associated with the loss of lives, an illegal demolition of a mosque and a legal battle that was gracefully accepted by the Muslims, despite it being against what they wanted. If the PM really cared, the Bhoomi Pooja could have been grand, no doubt, but could have been done in the absence of BJP politicians to at least try and maintain the facade of secularism that has been explicitly mentioned in our Constitution since 1975. As if previous cases were not proof enough, this can be single-handedly viewed as the reason for the end of secularism as we know (NOT to be confused with the end of secularism itself), not because it is the first instance of any political leader indulging in a religious activity but the importance and level of controversy that this specific case has.



--

Edits:

"iftar party organised by one *during* Ramadan, not 'at the end'."





Comments

  1. Every revered region of Hinduism has been either turned into city with heritage long forgotten or has been subjected to vandalism. May it be the Krishna Janmbhoomi or Kashi Vishwanath. THE FIGHT WAS NEVER ABOUT THE LAND, it was about the existence of heritage, a symbolic redemption from 700 years of Cultural gag. Ram Mandir is much more than four walls to pray within. The very fact that the believers of Dharma (morality) outlived the oppressors will make Ram Mandir a beacon of hope. Ram Mandir will be a symbol of perseverance, patience and unity for years to come.
    Please enlighten yourself by reading History and not Islamo-Leftist Propoganda.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Visiting the Kasturinagar (KA-03) RTO - a tumultuous but manageable experience to get a Learner's/ Driver's License without an agent/ driving school

Ask anyone, and I can guarantee that they will have a story (and in most cases, many stories) about their trip, or rather, numerous trips to the RTO for something as simple as getting a Learner's License (LL) or a Driver's License (DL). In this blog, I hope to make your life a tad bit easier by guiding you through the entire process, which may seem easy at first but is full of (overcome able) challenges if you know what you are doing. I turned 18 in January this year, and besides cutting a cake, I worked on my LL application online. I challenged myself to complete the entire LL to DL process by myself and without the help of an agent or a driving school, unlike what the majority do. The lengthy application process and multiple visits to the RTO, impressed upon me why most people decided to pay a little extra to get an agent to do it for them. Still, I was determined not to pay a single rupee more than the official cost. I succeeded.  Do note that this answer is concerning the K

Kicking off a 'political career' in an idea-based, grassroots level political party

Despite having been following politics for the longest time, and now studying it full time, I never joined a political party. When people used to ask me "who do you support?", my answer was standard, "no one". Luckily for me, ever since turning 18 and being eligible to vote, there hasn't been an election in which I'd be forced to cast my vote and tell people that I have made a definitive choice about a particular political party. At a time when politics has become ever so polarising and dirty, I couldn't be happier to associate myself with the BNP. It was in February 2020 that I was introduced to the Bengaluru NavaNiramana Party. I found their vision, leadership and ideas incredibly refreshing. Though I was aware of their launch/ kickoff meeting that took place in Freedom Park in early 2020, due to a friend's TEDx talk taking place simultaneously, I could not attend. Then, between Board Exams and the lockdown that took us all by surprise, I forgot ab

Living life out of a suitcase

  December 2022 As I sit on my fourteenth flight for the year, with two more scheduled before the curtains are drawn on 2022 (god bless my carbon footprint), laptop open, a glass of wine and a blank word document, I begin to ponder over my journey over the last few months. Penning it down and (at the risk of sounding philosophical) ‘reflecting’ on this journey seems imperative.  --- May 2022   After two wonderful years of ups and downs in Le Havre (thank you, COVID-19!), I said my good-byes, packed my bags and was on the train to Paris. But that was not my final destination – for now at least. After spending two nights at a friend’s, dropping my baggage off at a relative’s, catching the French Open and a round of golf in the middle, and a train to Beauvais (an hour north of Paris), I was on a flight to Barcelona. Checked in to my hostel, met my friend, went for 3 days of the Barcelona Formula 1 Grand Prix together, watched a Redbull 1-2 finish, celebrated with beer, sangria and tapas,

Climbing Trees

I like to climb trees. I climb some thick trees in my apartment. Now we play games on the tree also. Right now we have invented three games. First one- whoever can reach top of the tree is the winner (Invented by Sanjith Rao). Second- We lock someone in a small jail like thing and then we climb on the tree and get out (Invented by Sanjith Rao). 3rd- We hide on trees and then someone on a cycle has to catch us. (Best Game)(Invented by Sanjna Rao my sister and me) Here is a picture of me climbing a tree:

Sustainable Bitcoin Mining

Source Bitcoin mining has become popular amongst people with large data processors and also fintech-geeks who are interested in the world of mining. Mining is at times not very profitable due to the increase in complexity of problems given to miners (as more and more Bitcoins are mined) and electricity and other expensive overheads. According to NZ Herald , "Bitcoin mining uses so much energy that it could cause blackouts". The repercussions due to this is that an American city known as Platssburgh has already banned cryptocurrency mining for 18 months and Iceland believes that more energy will be used to mine Bitcoin rather than power their houses this year! The need for a sustainable model for mining is prevalent. With the introduction of cloud mining, many "non-techy" users have been able to mine Bitcoins by buying Hash power from various companies and making them mine Bitcoins for you. All you need to do is invest a particular amount and leave the rest of

Wizard 101

Wizard101 is a free game you can play. Wizard101 is created by the company KingsIsle. In Wizard101 you have quests to accomplish. In some quests you have to fight monsters. By fighting monsters you sometimes get things like pet snacks, robes to wear, hats to wear etc. In Wizard101 you have 2 types of spell cards, they are- Treasure cards and Trained cards. Once you use a treasure card you loose it. The advantage of using a treasure card is that it gives more damage on the monster you are trying to kill. Trained cards give less damage but you have them forever. You also have spell decks in which you have to keep your spells in. There are different spell decks. By default your wizard will have the starter's deck. After you pass levels you can buy different decks. I am right now in level 10 and I have 3 Decks, they are- Starter's Deck Pinewood Deck Novice's Life Deck The Starter's Deck can store only 12 cards. The Pinewood Deck can store 16 cards. The Novice's Life

How I Spent My Dasara Vacation (Sneak Preview)

Day 1 (24th September) I woke up at 8.00a.m. I quickly got ready and then had breakfast at 9.00a.m. I quickly had a bath and then played on the computer for 15 minutes. Then at 10.30a.m I went to play cricket. I came back home at 1.00 p.m. and had lunch.After finishing lunch I made a few word-searches on the computer. TO BE CONTINUED