Ayodhya - The Non Issue!

A national dispute which is 19 years old, may be 60 years old or probably 500 years old, has still kept the largest democracy of the planet on its toes. The Ramjanam Bhoomi - Babari Masjid dispute or let’s not leave any chances of controversy and phrase it the other way round too, the Babri Masjid - Ramjanam Bhoomi dispute, is a classic example of how emotional we are as a nation. But the manner in which our nation has handled the situation especially on the day of the verdict by the Luck now High court i.e. 30th September 2010 is nothing short of phenomenal. The same controversy shed so much blood 19 years back that it became the darkest moment in the history of this proud nation, not only it damaged the nation's image on the global canvas to mammoth levels but it also left deep scars of trust deficit in the minds of millions of innocent Hindus and Muslims. And the people of both the faiths are still paying the heavy price for that debacle by means of Godhra's, 26/11 and a lot more such heinous tragedies all across the nation. But the reason why we should pat our backs for our conduct during and post the high court verdict is that we are living in a more dangerous set up today vis-a-vis the setup two decades back. With so much media coverage and such a high degree of tension brewing up between ourselves and our neighbors, with terrorist outfits always on a lookout for creating havoc, globally too the threats of terror on the name of faith and religion has become such a major security concern, that one has to be very tactful in conducting oneself in such touchy moments, no wonder we as a nation deserve a very high degree of encomium for showing superb maturity in such a tricky scenario.

Though some might argue that if Jews have Jerusalem as their holiest place, signifying it as ‘THE’ place of their ultimate deity Jesus, Muslims have Mecca - Madina as their ultimate place of worship and place where the founder of Islam took birth, Hinduism being the third largest religion in the world , with Lord Rama being its main deity, have to still fight for a bloody, communal and a legal battle to attain the ownership of the place which they believe is the birthplace of their apex deity, Lord Rama. Now there can be various schools of thoughts on this belief but the worst aspect of this issue is the fact that it has been used for gaining political mileage by various political parties in the past, parties like BJP and Shiv Sena are the ones which came into forefront riding on the emotional wave created through this sensitive issue. Though it’s a common myth that only extremists groups like BJP, Shiv Sena and VHP are responsible for baking their bread on the Ayodha burner, but one should not discount the lackadaisical role which the oldest and self proclaimed secular party by the name of Congress has played in this debacle. The heartthrob youth leader of the 80s Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was the one who opened the gates of the disputed monument for Hindus to offer their prayers; Why this disruption of status quo? Obviously to strengthen their Hindu Vote bank. Also there was a Congress Government at the center when that horrendous act of demolishing the Mosque took place, and to believe the argument that the center had no clue about such a mass movement building up is nothing short of a big Joke. So it would be wrong to blame only a few political parties for such a fiasco, rather it can be safely assumed that all the political parties who should have acted sensibly and handle the issue with a lot of care have actually made a mess out of it for their own gains. And the tragedy is that even today there are netas who are hoping to resurrect their careers on the debris of a mosque.

But the obvious silver lining in this so very controversial issue is that the fact that the fate will be decided in the court of law vis-a-vis the bloody route which some shenanigans adopted two decades back. Though some might agree to the verdict and some might not but thankfully with the court of law being involved in the proceedings, everybody is expected to atleast respect it. Though even I am confused with some of the decisions passed on by the Luck now high-court bench, like declaring the disputed land as the actual place where Lord Rama took birth, now with facts put forth by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) one can factually come to a conclusion that there was a temple here centuries back on the ruins of which the Mosque was built, also ASI can ascertain the timelines as to when and by whom the monuments were built but how can they adjudge that this was the very place where the Lord Rama took birth, that to me is quite confusing. Though there might be various other parameters and facts which the court of law might have relied upon, but on the superficial level none of the logics supporting this premise came out in the public. Obviously it’s absolutely unfair to be judgmental on the issue or towards any particular sect based on the awareness of incomplete facts, but if decisions in the court are taken based on faiths and beliefs rather than facts and concrete evidences, it is not a fair implementation of justice, no matter whom it supports, be it the Hindus or be it the Muslims.

Though my standpoint on this issue is totally different from what is happening in the true sense, I believe neither Lord Rama nor the Almighty Allah would have preferred to be worshiped in a place which is soaked by the blood of hundreds of innocent people. And why is it so damn important for us as a nation to have either a Mandir or a Masjid there? What good will that to the poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, hunger and plethora of such problems which have crippled our nation for decades? At max it will pacify the egos and testosterones of some octogenarian politicians and will result in some more blood shedding but it will hardly do any good to the development of our highly talented nation. And how can we discount the amount of security threat it will pose to the new monument, it’s very easy to dream of a win win situation and peaceful environs once a Mandir or a Masjid is built, but by default the very day the monument comes into existence it will become a top terror target for all the mischievous outfits. So when we are already living in a set up where all the places of historic and national importance are under the constant terror threat, can we actually afford another high profile monument? Though it’s a different debate that we as a nation should be having the firepower to tackle any such probable mishaps, but nobody can deny the fact that any monument built after so much animosity and blood-shedding won't be a soft target for all kinds of unwanted activities.

Now there have been various school thoughts which have been proposed as a probable solution for this age old problem, in fact the high court has also come up with a three leg partition formula for all the (three) interested parties who are fighting the battle legally, though this solution has surprised a few, shocked a plenty and amused a section but I personally don't think that this formula of divide and unite can ever work, it will have its own share of new problems which are difficult to foresee at this stage, but given the adrenaline rush we as a nation ride upon, it will be more of a mess than an ambitious solution! I don't know why some common sense and sanity is not prevailing in the cauldrons of court rooms and government think tank offices? Why are we so hell bent in having a religious monument there, can’t they think that having a Hospital, School, Orphanage, Old Age Home or a Playground will contribute more to the society than having a place of religious importance which will be a constant cause of irk for a section of society. They can think but probably by doing so all our ministers, politicians and bureaucrats will become jobless, literally unemployed, because these are the issues which they have been giving a communal tadka all along with a vision to build their large empires, so if these issues cease to exist, they (ministers, politicians) will also fall into the category of endangered species.

But I am still very proud with the way YOUNG INDIA has handled this issue, they are very well aware that a Mandir or Masjid in Ayodhya won't contribute to their well being in Madurai, Bikaner or Aizwal, so there is no point being judgmental, emotional or stupid on this issue, which in turn is eventually a very threatening signal for our leaders but a very welcome and promising sign for our nation.

Lets us all not let this communal wave of Saffron or Green get into our nation's superfluous path of tremendous growth and prosperity today and show the world that why we are the greatest democracy in the world and a very strong super power of tomorrow!

JAI HIND!

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