‘Ram Lalla reconstruction’ foundation laying – Hindu resurrection

Some of the statements that were too common during the 2019 general election campaign in the country and even till July August 2019 were:

• We will not let Rafale come to this country as it is a sign of corruption;

• As long as we are alive, Ram Mandir will not be built. Few said that the Lord Ram never existed and gave such statements in a government filed affidavit to the Hon’ble Supreme Court;

• Ram Mandir is just another Jumla. It’s an election lollipop being used to keep Hindus busy. BJP will never construct it. In the heart of heart Congress was quite happy when the ‘Babri Masjid’ was demolished on 6^th December 1992 by Kar Sewaks and not a single bullet was fired to prevent blood shed as happened during ‘Maulana’ Mulayam Singh Yadav’s tenure in the year 1990, since it felt that issue will never be again raised by both BJP and VHP;

• Modi kya … iss desh mein kisi ki bhi aukaat nahi jo Kashmir mein dhara 370 aur dhara 35A ko hatane ki baat soch le;

• We will protect Triple Talaq till our last breath and won’t let anyone dilute it; and

• No one in this country has guts to pass CAB to make it CAA.

An eventful year has passed and in August 2020, as I pen down this article:

5 Rafale fighters are in India and formation of a Rafale squadron at Ambala has begun to tackle western front;

Ram Mandir ‘reconstruction’ started and foundation was relaid by our beloved PM on 5^th August at 12:15:15 pm with blowing of trumpets and conch shells and thus begins a new chapter of Indian history and Hindu unity;

Dhara 370 and dhara 35A rendered irrelevant and hundreds of people have been given citizenship of the Union Territory as per new citizenship norms. Many development projects initiated;

With passage in both houses Triple Talaq was abolished and justice has been given to millions of Muslim women;

CA Bill passed on 5^th August, 2019, became CA Act, 2019, after due notifications, the narrative changed to ‘kagaz nahin dikhayeinge’ and the country celebrated its 1^st anniversary of its notification in a big way.

The Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict in the Ayodhya matter had settled the ‘title suit’ in favour of the main Hindu plaintiff – essentially the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) – but it is clear that there is much more at stake for the country than the ownership of 2.77 acres of land on which a mosque, which was built after demolishing a temple stood for 470 years until it was razed. The Supreme Court has objected on the false logic of the High Court and acknowledged that in some manner Ram idols were planted in the mosque were illegal and that the mosque’s demolition in 1992 was “an egregious violation of the rule of law”. The site will be managed by a Trust that the government has set up. The title suit in the Babri Masjid matter has been going on in one form or the other since 1949, mainly in the local courts of Faizabad, where Ayodhya is located. It took on national salience in the 1980s, thanks to the cynical politics of Late Rajiv Gandhi, who opened the locks to please Hindu worshippers after the lop sided Shah Bano case, which was to please Muslim clergy and now forgotten villains like Vir Bahadur Singh and Arun Nehru.

There is a sigh of relief among the Ram bhakts and great discomfort among the parties that played politics with it. Lord Ram has been saved and redeemed. His Lordship will be seated in His place of birth – in a grand temple the world has not yet seen, in all His glory. The others – those who had claimed the place as theirs have been asked to vacate – to shift to a new place to build a new mosque and to wipe out the memory in their collective conscience of the 470 years old mosque. While all the political parties have been guarded in their positive response honouring the SC verdict with a call to maintain mutual harmony, Seeman, leader of the Naam Tamilar Katchi or We the Tamils Party, in Tamil Nadu tweeted: “This is just a judgment – not justice. The Supreme Court says the demolition of the 16^th century Babri Masjid [on December 6^th, 1992] was ‘an egregious violation of the rule of law and a calculated act of destroying a place of public worship.” “But it is highly disappointing,” he says, “that the demolishers have not been punished! Demolition of the mosque was not merely a violation of the rule of law but a violation of another’s faith and the country’s sovereignty.”

The late M. Karunanidhi, five – time chief minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), always had an uncomfortable relationship with the idea of Lord Ram as a divine incarnation. He expressed his views in no uncertain words when Lord Ram stood as a stumbling block to an ambitious project of his. One of his pet project was the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, to create a shipping route in the shallow strait between India and Sri Lanka that would provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula. He believed it would bring economic prosperity to the southern districts of the Tamil Nadu through easier trade and commerce through a shorter sea route. But the Hindu Munnani and other groups raised a hue and cry, demanding an alternative route to the proposed shipping canal in the narrow strait between India and Sri Lanka.

The UPA government at the Centre supported Karunanidhi’s proposal. The Janata Party chief Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, the Hindu Munnani’s Ramagopalan and several others took the matter to court when quite an amount of money had already been spent on the work and team from the Ministry of Shipping were sent abroad to study similar projects and prepare a feasibility report. Their argument was that the proposed alignment for the project would mean destroying the Ramar Sethu – called Adam’s Bridge – the mythical bridge built by an army of monkeys for Lord Ram, cross the ocean, wage war with Lanka, defeat Ravana and bring his abducted wife Sita back to Ayodhya after 14 years of banishment. The project, if executed, they said, would hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

Late Karunanidhi thought their view was ridiculous and irrational. He burst out angrily in front of the TV cameras with the words, “Who is Ram? Ram is a lie. There is no historical truth in an epic that depicted Ravan, a Dravidian as a villain.” He became belligerent, pressurising the UPA government to implement the project. He called for a bandh in Tamil Nadu in September 2007 to demand implementation of the project. But the SC termed the bandh illegal. He could not defy the highest court of law. He decided to go on a fast instead with air conditioners blowing well controlled cool air!

Similar narratives were dished out that the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5^th is the penultimate step towards the objective of a once in an epoch political movement. Questions were asked that is it necessary to hold this emotionally charged event when the Covid – 19 pandemic requires full attention? Not to mention the need to flatten the risk curve of the military conflict along the Line of Control with China? Leftist and liberal media dished out feeble canards that this is not the first time that the BJP ruled government had granted permission to an event in Ayodhya when the country had been beset with major challenges. Weeks after the terrorist attack on parliament on December 13, 2001 and the consequent India Pakistan standoff (Operation Parakram), the government of the day allowed the VHP to launch a fresh bid to begin construction of the Lord Ram temple before judicial hearings were over.

CPI’s General Secretary D. Raja questioned the Hon’ble PM’s presence at the event which was in his great view definitely a violation of secular principles. Said Raja to THE WEEK, “Look at the date the government has chosen – August 5. It looks suspicious to me. This was the date when Article 370 was removed in J&K last year. The Union government should be neutral towards all religions. Modi cannot identify himself with one religion in this manner. Leaders like Late [Atal Bihari] Vajpayee (ji) would not have approved of this. This government is working diametrically opposite to the secular politics practised and preached by their own leaders like Vajpayee (ji).” Converting anything about Hindus into something about ‘caste’ is what the Left excels in. The Left likes to increase the caste divide by camouflaging its Hinduphobia under the cloak of ‘fight against Brahminical forces’. The Leftists are very good to Buddhist. Few other politicians have asked for Buddha Vihar at Ayodhya. They think that Hindus will not be so angry by saying Buddha, as much as Babar and leftists will be able to do it to the Dalit and Ambedkarite Hindus. As RJD drags caste in Ayodhya, they forget that Hanuman Mandir in Patna has a Dalit priest.

Congress leaders did not made any narrative that will brand them as anti-Hindu. To suit the occasion Pappuji sports a tilak, wear a janeyu and visit temples and portraits himself as shiva bhakt but may ask their allies to state the narratives. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar lampooned that some people think building a temple will help eradicating the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust suggested two dates in the August for laying the foundation stone for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The worst of the lot is AIMIM. Please refer the tweet. They have yet to reconcile the SC verdict and will create problems in the long run.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) came down heavily on Maharashtra Chief Minister Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray for suggesting that Bhumi Pujan of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya be performed through Video Conferencing (VC).VHP Working President questioned the statement of Uddhav Thackeray shows a fall of what once was a Hindutva Party led by the legendary late Bala Sahab Thackeray. This is the first time Shiv Sena was inviting the wrath of VHP. In a statement, VHP Working President wondered how Bhumi Pujan-like sacred ritual can be conducted through e-conference and said that the VHP “mourn” on the fall of Shiv Sena, which was a Hindutva party. Suggesting a VC citing Corona is a false pretense. He also said that “we are concerned with the statement of Uddhav Thackeray suggesting that the Bhumi Pujan should be performed by VC. The statement of Uddhav Thackeray only shows his blind opposition and we do mourn such a fall of what once was a staunch Hindutva Party and he went to Ayodhya.

Massive preparation were made for the foundation laying. The full event was telecast live on the national TV and most channels relayed. It may be possible that NCP Chief may have switched the TV but closed his eyes not to watch the event! A list of 200 plus dignitaries were invited when PM laid the foundation. Sacred earth and water from all part of the country was brought to the site. Admaru Mutt Aadalitha Mandali said that soil from Udupi will be sent to the site where Ram Mandir will be built in Ayodhya. The VHP had decided to use soil from different places including from the river bed before initiating the work. Accordingly, soil from Udupi was sent.

Plans are afoot to turn August 5^th in subsequent years into biggest Hindu festival. It is planned to exchange maximum number of greeting cards on this day. Play Holi during the day and have Deepawali in the night on this day by lighting small earthen lamps. Declare 5^th August as a holiday each year. Decorate the Rashtrapati Bhawan and the Parliament in vibrant colours and ensure that this becomes a festival of joy, colour and victory of Hindus over the tyranny of foreign invaders. Water and earth collected from “thousands of holy rivers and shrines” across the country will form the foundation of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, which will celebrate “territorial integrity of the nation.” The water and earth carried to Ayodhya from thousands of holy rivers and pilgrimage centres and shrines across the country will act as its foundation and the Bhoomi Pujan ceremony of the Ram Temple will showcase the togetherness of the whole of Bharat. It will stand to enthuse, motivate and orient the people to always uphold and celebrate uncompromising cultural nationalism, integral humanism, national unity, territorial integrity of the nation.

The earth and water has come from Nagpur, the birthplace of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS); from Kashi, the birthplace of Sant Ravidasji; the Maharshi Valmiki Ashram at Sitamarhi, Bihar; Kachargad in Gondia District in Vidarbha (Maharashtra); Ramrekhadham of Jharkhand; Tantya Bheel’s holy land in Madhya Pradesh; Shri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) of Amritsar; Mhow, the birthplace of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar; the Jain Lal Mandir in Delhi and the Valmiki Temple in Delhi, where Mahatma Gandhi lived for 72 days – these are only a few examples.

There will be some reason that the Ram Temple got justice at the time of Modi today. Why not before this? We are all very lucky to witness this new history. Otherwise it was not so easy to change the brutal history of 500 years, no matter how much you make, Modi’s governance or the wisdom of Ranjan Gogoi. Whatever may be the God’s destiny, I am lucky to see it in my life.

“Once a MASJID always a MASJID.” – Owaisi: on 2^nd August at AajTak TV channel, again even after the SC judgement he is repeating this version and pointing fingers upon PM Modi’s appearance in ground – breaking ceremony at Ayodhya on 5^th August. This does not shows his personal mentality but this is the mass feeling of Muslims. Only due to such mentality I am of the view that from the date of start of construction till the construction ends, this temple will need security of highest level, may be of the level of Parliament or PM’ house or even Rashtrapati Bhawan. There have been governments of all political persuasions in power at the Centre since the Ayodhya case first emerged in 1949. Yet the fact that the case ended up being fast-tracked at a time when the party in power today is one which openly asserts its partisanship on Ayodhya should be reason enough to worry us about happens next. The country already has a citizenship law which explicitly excludes Muslim refugees. A law has been passed that criminalises the abandonment of wives by Muslim men but not men of other religions. It is not a coincidence that the only part of India where the constitutional protections of liberty and free speech do not apply is a Muslim majority region, Kashmir. The anger is palpable.

VHP volunteers were on the ground in Ayodhya, making arrangements for the 5 August ceremony, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended. He also laid a silver and golden brick. The narrative of the future politics will be either one is with Lord Ram or he is against the Lord Ram. The politics will change and will encompass the emancipation of Mata Ahalya by Bhagwan Ram, high esteem shown to Shabari Mata and camaraderie with Nishadraj are outstanding illustrations of social harmony of the future whether we like it or not. The consolidation of Hindu votes will be much higher with a new shrill cry for Mathura and Banaras and a petition was to be heard in the SC on 7^th August 2020. The foundation stone of Ram Janmabhoomi was laid in 1989 in the presence of many revered saints by a SC person, Kameshwar Chaupal, who is today a valued trustee of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. VHP will take pride in this narrative.

There is in general happiness among all section of Hindus and all future 5^th August will be celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm. After ages Hindus are getting a sense of liberation and resurrection. For them it’s a victory which needs celebration. I lit earthen lamps in my house, chanted Sundar Kand, blew a conch loud and clear and shouted Jaiiiii Shri Ram such that I am heard at Ayodhya and ram Lalla bless our nation eternally.