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Introduction: Hindu youth stress mandir is for ‘nation’s pride’
Somwaari Bazaar was the only spot in Malad where the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP's) March 15 ghantanaad programme could have caused a problem. Thirty feet away from the Ram Mandir is a large mosque. To avoid trouble, the Muslims completed their Friday namaz by 1.45 pm, under heavy police bandobast.
By 2.20 pm, half-a-dozen Youths, led by a girl, began their ceremony inside the temple bhajans, followed by a talk by the girl on the history of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, and then an aarti.
Outside, in the quiet winding lane that runs along one side of the mandir, Muslim families collected clothes that had been hung out to dry and settled down for lunch.
The youths at the temple described themselves as Hindus, not as VHP activists. They understood the curbs put on their entry into Ayodhya - the government didn’t want disguised Kashmiri terrorists to be able to sneak in.
They accepted the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) compulsions in thwarting what had been its own campaign - it was part of an alliance. Besides, the Supreme Court's verdict had to be obeyed, even though they didn't agree with it.
They said they were satisfied with what had happened in Ayodhya, even if it was not what had been planned. “We wanted some ceremony for the Ram Mandir to take place today and it did.”
But it was the live coverage of the Ayodhya drama that revealed their real feelings. A chorus of “tsk tsk” hailed the sight of countless uniformed men surrounding the VHP activists. “Just look at that. It's as if the kar sevaks are terrorists. Now if they were to have so much bandobast in Kashmir…”
Aaj Tak's coverage irritated them even more. Special correspondent Dibang's mention of the hardships which Ayodhya's residents were facing - missed exams, closed businesses - provoked one of them to exclaim, “Who sponsors these channels? Look at the petty things he's focusing on. As if we've never had to put up with inconveniences because of politicians. This is a national cause.”
I asked them how long they thought building the temple was going to take. “It has already taken 500 years; what's a few years more?” replied Harshada Sarde, obviously the group leader. “It would have been solved if the Muslims weren't so obstinate. We are just asking that our place be returned to us. We're not being unreasonable. We've asked with so much love. We've shown so much patience. Now if they go on being obstinate, we'll do what Acharya Giriraj Kishore said: well convert the whole country into Ayodhya.”
Prakash said, “We Hindus are peaceful people - we don’t even kill an ant and turn the other cheek when someone hits us. But now we've stopped turning the other cheek.”
Then what about the violence in Gujarat? They gave the same justification for the retaliation.
But what did the 700 Muslim killed have to do with those who burnt the Sabarmati Express? “When your child is burnt alive, you don’t bother to see who you attack. Anyone who comes in your way becomes a target,” was their answer.
“What if they retaliate?” I asked. When will this cycle end and the problem be solved once and for all?
“If only you media people could convey the message that the mandir should be built as a symbol of the nation's pride, it would take no time at all,” replied Harshada.
The media had to give both sides of the picture, I told them. “Exactly,” they replied, 'but where is the other side? All of you focus only on Gujarat. What about Godhra?”
The Hindutvavadis are angry with the media, especially the English media, as they were after December 6, 1992.
Asked whether the Ayodhya mahurat of 2.15 pm was to coincide with the Friday namaz, Shankar Gaikar, Mumbai secretary of the Bajrang Dal, retorted, “That's the reason Rajdeep Sardesai was beaten up. You people see everything we do through tinted glasses. Had we fixed our programme at 6 am, you would have said it coincides with the morning azaan.”
A two-part article m Saamna, titled 'When Gujarat awakes', names most mainstream English papers and magazines as having sold out to the West, and praises the Maharashtra Times and Gujarat's Sandesh for being 'nationalist' papers. Saamna also praises Gujaratis for having shown their 'manliness' ' but surprisingly, also cautions against using violence to answer violence.
The Malad youths, however, had a
more pertinent question. Referring to Aaj Tak's special report titled,
Gujarat: 'Ek Khooni Daastaan, they asked, “Wasn't what happened in Godhra
part of Gujarat's khooni daastaan? Where were the graphic images of the
burnt children and of their grieving parents?'
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