The most awaited event of the century is happening on the 22nd of this month. The inauguration of the Ram Mandir. A mandir which everyone has been dearly waiting for. The unemployed youth, mob-lynched Muslims, manual scavengers, undernourished children, migrant workers, indebted peasants, subjugated women, etc. all have been waiting for this Mandir their entire lifetime. This is all they want in their lives. This is all that we need in our lives.
After the First War of Independence of 1857, the British scared by the unity of communities started a rumour. A rumour about a Ram temple being demolished by the Mughal ruler Babur to make the Babri Masjid. There’s no evidence anywhere about the existence of a Ram temple underneath the Masjid. Then in 1858, they allowed for the construction of a “Ram Chabutra” in the premises of the Masjid. The Muslim worshipers and visitors filed several petitions against it which were of course ignored, fueling the increasing tension between the communities.
The next major boost to this tension occurred during the late 80’s and early 90’s during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. A movement with a belief that the site of the mosque was the birthplace of the Hindu deity Lord Ram and called for the construction of a temple at that location. This was happening in the leadership of the BJP- RSS leaders Murli Manohar Joshi and Lal Krishna Advani.
In 1992, under the same leadership, with some very popular slogans such as “Tel laga lo Dabur ka, naam mita do Babur ka”(apply oil of Dabur, destroy name of Babur), “Ram Lalla aayenge, mandir wahin banayenge”(temple for baby Ram will be built there itself), etc., a mob of almost 1.5 lakh people tore down Babri. The demolition resulted in several months of rioting between the communities which resulted in deaths of 2000 people (officially). None of the leaders who made this happen were arrested. Not so surprisingly, it helped them gain more seats in next election.
But it’s not only BJP who has benefited from the RSS. Be it Nehru or Rajiv Gandhi, they both supported or took support from RSS some or other time. Nehru praised RSS for its ‘patriotic’ work during the Indo- Pak and Indo- China war. While Rajiv Gandhi asked for their support during the 1984 elections to gain the Hindu’s support which they lost after the Shah Bano’s case.
The next milestone was the Gujarat riots. Where the sangh parivar fought a ‘heroic’ fight against unarmed Muslim men, women and children, raping and murdering them. This riot will soon lead to the rise of its mastermind to the prime ministership of India in 2014 elections. That is the natural step forward in our ‘democracy’. The higher the pile of innocent dead bodies, the higher in hierarchy you reach. The “Gujarat model” was the call for this election. India which is like Gujarat. India which is like 2002 Gujarat. And we see that model working in whole of India now. Be it the issue of Kashmir, aerial bombing of villages in Chhattisgarh, increasing mob lynching, the Manipur issue, etc.
From “Achhe din aane wale hain” in 2014 to 2019’s Babri verdict of the “most important” pillar of the “largest democracy”, i.e the Supreme Court of India bent its backbone in front of the Hindutva goons. Now before the 2024 elections its time to show the citizens of our country the biggest achievement of its 10 years tenure. The Ram Mandir. But will it be a happy ending of centuries old debate and conflict? Sadly, no. The Sangh Parivar has another slogan and another dream to show to its disciples, i.e. “Yeh to bas ek jhaanki hai, Mathura-Kaashi baaki hai (“this is just a jolt, now its turn for Mathura and Kaashi”).
They will keep adding multiple mandirs to their list. They will keep raising and adding new slogans like this. But what is the use of these slogans? Is it to distract the people from the actual problems they face? Is it to create more problems for them? Is it to stop people from asking genuine and difficult questions? Is it to hide the genuine and difficult questions that are already being asked?
But why is dissent still alive? Still, how four youths managed to ask questions about employment and women’s safety with a loud noise in Parliament? Still, how are they not able to completely suppress the movements going on against the corporate loot in villages? Still, how are they not able to stop the voice of resistance coming from Kashmir and North-Eastern states even after so many hours of internet shutdown and brute force?
The future of our country lies in the answers to these questions. No matter how much the current regime tries to portray Mandirs and Hindutva as the driving goal of the country, the people cannot be blinded for long. They will demand what is rightfully theirs. Be it jobs, be it dignity, or be it political power. And if needed they will snatch it from them.
