From Babri Masjid Demolition to Ram Temple Inauguration: The Trajectory of Indian Politics
By
Ram Puniyani, New Age Islam
29 December
2023
When India
gained independence, Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech set the tone for the
future courses that India planned to undertake. He pledged, ‘The service of
India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of
poverty, ignorance, disease, and inequality of opportunity… The ambition of the
greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That
may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, our work will
not be over.’ He articulated this vision for the temples of modern India during
the inauguration speech of the Bhakra Nangal Dam.
Babri Masjjid (File Photo)
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A report in
Hindustan Times archives describes it thus: “With great feeling the prime
minister described these sites as “temples and places of worship” where thousands
of human beings were engaged in great constructive activity for the benefit of
millions of their fellow beings.”
The phrase
‘Temples of Modern India’ served as the underlying theme for conceptualising
public sectors, educational institutions promoting scientific temper, health
facilities, and academies for the promotion of culture, among other aspects.
The nearly four to five decades’ journey with this undercurrent of ‘Modern
Temples’ took a significant turn in the 1980s. On one side, the response to the
Shah Bano fiasco in dealing with minorities opened the floodgates of divisive
politics, as communal forces unleashed a massive propaganda war against
religious minorities. Simultaneously, the affirmative action for the
downtrodden, with the implementation of the Mandal Commission, gave impetus to
temple politics, already a strategy in the playbook of Hindu nationalists.
In contrast
to Nehru’s vision of ‘Temples of Modern India,’ the quest for ‘temples
underneath the mosque’ brought to the fore the Babri Masjid dispute. The
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) progeny, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
came into existence in 1980, donning the cloak of ‘Gandhian Socialism’ with the
moderate Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the helm. Despite his moderate image, Vajpayee
was deeply rooted in RSS ideology.
He authored
Hindu Tan Man-Hindu Jeevan (Hindu soul and body-Hindu life), and masked
his Hindu nationalist politics. Vajpayee later made way for Lal Krishna Advani,
who came up with the slogan ‘Mandir Vahin Banayenge’ (We will build the temple
where the Babri mosque is located).
The RSS
Combine was able to create a perception that Lord Ram was born precisely at the
spot where the mosque was located. The Ram Rath Yatra gained momentum following
the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations. However, this Yatra
left a trail of violence in its wake. Around 1990, in the aftermath of L.K.
Advani’s Rath Yatra, nearly 1,800 people lost their lives in different parts of
India. The Yatra was eventually halted when Lalu Yadav arrested Advani.
The mosque
was demolished on December 6, 1992, by the Kar Sevaks, some of whom had
planned the demolition. During the event, leaders like Advani, Murli Manohar
Joshi, and Uma Bharati were seated on the stage, where slogans like “Ek
Dhakka Aur Do, Babri Masjid Tod Do” (Give one more push, break the Babri
Mosque) and “Ye To Kevel Jhanki Hai Kashi Mathura Baki Hai” (this is
just the beginning, Kashi Mathura will follow) were raised.
After the
demolition, violence erupted in Mumbai, Bhopal, Surat, and various other
locations. In summary, the legal system bent over backwards to give the verdict
of the case based on ‘faith’, and not giving any punishment to those who led
the demolition. In its judgment, the judiciary, for better or worse, awarded
the entire Babri Mosque land for the construction of the temple.
In the glee
of this ‘success’ by the RSS combine, large funds were collected from home and
abroad and now, a huge temple is ready to be inaugurated by the prime minister
himself, with all Hindu rituals. This will be a ceremony undertaken by the head
of a ‘formally secular’ state. Babri Masjid was a regular election plank till
it was demolished and after that, the building of the grand Ram temple was part
of the BJP’s election manifestos and electoral promises. The communal violence
shot up on a regular basis along with the ghettoisation of Muslim community,
the polarisation and the rise of the electoral might of the BJP.
According
to A.M. Singh, a research scholar at the Department of Political Science,
Manipur Central University, “Since coming to power, much of the BJP’s political
discourse has exacerbated communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims. Their
actions have followed suit, with the abrogation of Article 370 in the Indian Constitution
and the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019… By redefining
and remanufacturing Indian citizenship on the principles of Hindutva, the BJP
government has broken the fate and legacy of India’s secularism enshrined in
its constitution.” Now a ghettoised Muslim community has been pushed to the
margins as second class citizens.
Now, as the
temple is set to be inaugurated, efforts are underway to mobilise a large
section of Hindus for this occasion. In countries like America and others, a
significant number of NRIs are preparing for the event by organising various
programmes. Back home, all the affiliates of the RSS have been activated to
mobilise Hindus for the occasion, encouraging them to either visit the new
temple or participate in rituals at local temples.
There are
minor controversies about who has been invited and who has been left out.
Advani, the chief architect of the demolition movement, and his close aide
Joshi were initially advised by the temple trust not to attend the inauguration
due to their old age and the biting cold in Ayodhya. On second thought, the
VHP, the overarching organisation, has invited them.
As the
Babri demolition helped sectarian politics come to power, the inauguration of
the temple seems to be yet another mechanism to consolidate polarisation and
reap electoral dividends. A large number of special trains and buses are being
planned for the occasion. Temple politics has reached its zenith.
It is time
to recall Nehru’s concept of ‘temples of Modern India’ with the promotion of
scientific temper. Currently, religiosity and blind faith are being heightened.
As India started coming out of the colonial darkness, it also ensured a
direction where the ‘last person in the line’ was to be the primary focus. With
the politics revolving around Ram Temple, to be followed by temples in Kashi
and Mathura, the deprivations of ‘last person’ and Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’
promises have been dumped along with holding him responsible for all the ills
of the country.
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Ram Puniyani is president, Centre of Study of
Society and Secularism and has written several books including Communal
Politics: Facts Versus Myths (Sage, 2003), Deconstructing Terrorist Violence
(Sage 2015), Indian Nationalism versus Hindu Nationalism (Pharos 2014) and
Caste and Communalism (Olive 2013).
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic
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