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December     Last updated: December 23 : 7:00 p.m.

Editorial

Ayodhya ritual

Even as the whole country was preparing to heave a sigh of relief that the Ayodhya episode is now not on the priority list of any political party, the Congress and the Leftists raked up the whole issue. Valuable time of Parliament was wasted like nobody's business. Important bills were kept pending. What began as a ritual breast beating every sixth December became a well orchestrated plot to disrupt Parliamentary proceedings and rock the NDA boat. The Congress party tried to put up a brave face and seems to have been trapped into the protest rounds by the Leftists, who in any case, were only looking for some ‘worthy’ cause to show to the people that they still exist politically. With not much force in their arguments, the opposition tried to twist the statement made by the Prime Minister. The PM made it clear reiterating his earlier stand that neither the Constitution nor the law disqualify a Minister from holding office merely because a chargesheet is filed by the police or formal charges are framed by the court. Besides, the distinction between a court case involving an individual and a case hinging on a man monument was clearly spelt out by the BJP. The movement for the reconstruction of Ram temple at Ayodhya can only be compared to the reconstruction of Somnath temple. When the issue of rebuilding the Somnath temple, destroyed by Muhammed Gazni, came up after Independence, it was Mahatma Gandhi who prevailed upon the then political leaders, all of them from the Congress, to look beyond the narrow continues of religion and approach the issue from a historical perspective.

The first President of free India, Babu Rajendra Prasad, while dedicating the temple to the nation had spoken about washing away the centuries old shame. What was that shame he was talking about? The disused masjid that stood on the debris of once grand Somnath temple was reminding him of Islamic vandalism of his nation. Somnath represented a set of national ethos and the efforts to rebuild that temple was in tune with the sentiments of the people. Ayodhya stands in the same category. And so do the temples of Kashi and Mathura. Those in the forefront of the Ayodhya movement wanted just an amicable solution for a national issue. What was once ‘Babri masjid’ had in forty years had become a dilapilated structure, disowned even by local Muslims. But the opposition to the reconstruction of Ayodhya temple came not from any religious group but from political and Leftist quarters, who looked at the issue as an opportunity to divide the people and rule on that basis. It was political opposition to Ayodhya that necessitated political support for it. Thus, the BJP was drawn towards the movement, all the while making it clear that rebuilding Ram temple at Ayodhya is akin to the reconstruction of Somnath temple. For two consecutive years before 1992, lakhs of karsevaks came to Ayodhya and went back, the second time brutally attacked by a barbarous state apparatus.

This insensitiveness and repression were not forgotten by the karsevaks. But the leaders of the movement even at the last moment pleaded with the then Central Government to resolve the crisis through a court verdict. The Central Government did nothing to assauge the feelings of the Hindu society, but carelessly left the situation to go out of hands. The then Union Minister for Human Resource Development had even circulated a source report indicating that some agent provocateurs from Pakistan have been able to infiltrate into Ayodhya and would try to damage the structure. Later, deposing before an enquiry commission he even admitted that the his Government was in a position to protect the damage to the structure but did nothing to act in that direction. The Ayodhya issue could have been solved amicably. But the Congress and the Left parties have their own sinister agenda. Their agenda is to destabilise the present Government and create chaos, a situation where they can thrive. But their dubious design failed. Not only that the NDA stood united like a force, but their unity was amply demonstrated. The past ten days hold a lesson for all political parties, those who learn will benefit.