HVK Archives: Reclaiming Ram's Birthplace
Reclaiming Ram's Birthplace - The Times of India
M V Kamath
()
December 22, 1997
Title: Reclaiming Ram's Birthplace
Author: M V Kamath
Publication: The Times of India
Date: December 22, 1997
Reading Mr Siddharth Varadarajan's commentary "Ayodhya and After"
(December 6) one bows down to the futility of arguing with people
with a one-track mind. Like a sleep-walker entirely oblivious of
the world around him, the author speaks about "an ancient
monument" (the reference is to the Babri Masjid standing on
disputed territory) being "brought down" and the "dishonourable
role" of the BJP in this destruction. ]be Masjid was a standing
insult to Hinduism. It was deliberately built in Ayodhya, at a
time when Hinduism was in its periodic decline, to tell Hindus
who was in power. The building of the Masjid was a political
gesture, shorn of any semblance to spirituality. There was no
reason why a masjid should have been built in Ayodhya of all
places - just as there was no reason why other masjids should
have been built in Varanasi and Mathura - if it were not to
emphasise that Islam was the ruling power in North India and the
Hindus had better lug it.
Hindu Sentiments
Giving the Babri Masjid the sheen of an "ancient monument" that
cannot be touched, just does not wash. The Babri Masjid hurt
Hindu sentiments and this was openly and publicly expressed.
Demolition of the masjid was an act of self-respect on the part
of the Hindus and if this is not understood, no dialogue on the
subject is possible. To keep foisting a guilt feeling among
Hindus may make good =91secular' copy - Hindu intellectuals are so
wary of being tagged as =91communalists' - but if the idea is to
establish a dialogue between Muslims and Hindus, failure is in-
built in this approach.
If, in equating the Congress under Mr P V Narasimha Rao with the
BJP, the author is trying to show that he is not biased against
the BJP per se, the effort is puerile. The BJP has committed no
sin and it does not require the solution offered by Mr
Varadarajan to it by making the Congress a co-sinner - if that,
indeed, is his aim. If anybody has to be blamed it is the Muslim
leadership that steadfastly refused to accommodate Hindu
sentiments. The All-India Babri Masjid Action Committee could
have gracefully acknowledged the fact of Islamic invasion of
Hindu territory and dissociated itself from the murderous assault
of a foreigner which Babar was, as were those who took military
orders from him. Instead it took upon itself the task of
defending the indefensible with inevitable consequences.
There is nothing =93shame-faced or "evasive" about the demolition
of the Babri Masjid. Instead of being demolished, it could
conveniently have been dismantled and re-located if the Muslim
community had given its willing assent and gracious consent to
the idea. Instead, it chase to assume the mantle of Babar.
What would, indeed, have been "shame-faced" is if the Hindus had
taken resort to demeaning ways of demolishing the masjid. It
would not have required much ingenuity to discreetly plant a few
bombs under the masjid and demolish it by remote control at dead
of night. That would not only have been a disgraceful act but
unworthy of the principle that what is an affront to Hinduism
must be brought down openly and in broad daylight, for all the
world to know.
What is disdainfully called "Hindu nationalism" is the cry of a
people who have long been kept out of power and are now seeking
to assert themselves. Is it the argument that Hindus should never
assert themselves but should give in to the new God, 'secularism'
(whatever that is supposed to mean), as once they gave in to
Islamic invaders and later still to British imperialists? Should
they for ever play second fiddle in their own land of birth? The
Congress party may be hypocritical, but the BJP is not.
Necessary Act
The BJP's nationalism is not exclusivist or anti-Muslim.
Consider the full text of Mr L K Advani's address to the National
Muslim Youth Conference held in Delhi's Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan
Nagar on December 4. A Week-MODE poll taken in late November
showed that were elections to be held immediately, the BJP would
capture 46 per cent of the votes while the Congress would get 19
per cent and the Janata Dal just three per cent.
Ayodhya was a necessary act, even as it was a painful one. Indian
Muslim must dissociate themselves from the excesses committed by
alien marauders and show their unity with the majority in the
onward march of the country towards a period of peace and
prosperity for which, even now, a blue print is being prepared by
the BJP. The hate-BJP tune has no takers. The future belongs to
the BJP and 'Hindu nationalism'. Hindus can take insults in
their stride; their sights are set higher, at the greater glory
of India embracing all people.
The author is former editor of Illustrated Weekly of India
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