Ayodhya will again be the focus in the coming week. This even as Covid-19 is still on a roll and social life remains mostly paralysed. Religious frenzy coupled with the vigour with which the Modi government is pursuing the Ram Temple plan in what is cited as the birthplace of Lord Ram is bound to make the foundation laying ceremony for the long-awaited temple works a mega event. The presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top guns of the government and ruling party will be an added glamour. Intelligence alert about likely threats from terrorists is unlikely to dampen the bhumi pujan.
One of the few achievements of the present Modi government is the way it sought to set at rest the long-pending Ayodhya dispute, through the good offices of the Supreme Court. The grievances of the Muslim faithful have been addressed in large part by the grant of acres of land alongside to build a mosque a some distance away from the slot where the erstwhile Babri Masjid stood. Its demolition by a Hindu crowd charged by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Sangh Parivar activists in December, 1992 had accentuated a deep communal divide which is yet to be healed. Yet, this is time to look forward, and see not just the mega Ram Temple project getting completed but also the proposed mosque, in equal grandeur, both standing testimony to the spirit of co-existence.
Notably, the Babri demolition cases are still in court; only the dispute about the ownership of the land has been settled by the apex court. The death of over 2,000 people in the ensuing riots in 1992 is a painful chapter in modern Indian history. It was a failure on the part of the political leadership to have allowed things to reach such a pass, rather than pushing for a negotiated settlement. This is a grim lesson for future generations. In a democracy, discussions are more important than guns and bombs.
Questions will naturally arise as to why precious resources should be used for the erection of the Ram temple in these times of Covid-linked economic struggle that people are facing. Indeed this is time to use all available resources for mitigating the sufferings of people. Yet, this is also time to pump money into sectors like construction, which could rev up the market. This is no time to hold back money; and more so of the government. The government must also be liberal in helping to facilitate the rise of the new mosque. In India, to exist is to co-exist.
