As the Lucknow bench of the honourable Allahabad High Court was giving a final verdict on the historically 400 and legally 60 year old Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi Babari Masjid case last week, I sat pondering over the possibilities of serious repercussions in the Indian mainstream society.
The case began almost 500 years ago when the then Mughal emperor Zahir ud-din Babur erected a tri-domed mosque in Ayodhya after demolishing a Ram Temple of massive religious significance to the Hindus as it stood over the exact locale where Lord Ram was born. This was the background to a story which took a political fervour in the 60’s and the 70’s. In 1949, a statue of Ram was placed inside the mosque causing a huge uproar and general ill will among the two communities. Numerous riots took place between 1970 and 1990. The anarchy prevailing reached its zenith when on the 6th of December, 1992, an act of national shame occurred. Religious zealots in the guise of ‘kar sewaks’ accessed the mosque compound and tore down the 464 year old structure.
The main motive behind this ghastly and communalistic act was “to avenge for the demolition of the Shri Ram Temple and the disrespect shown to the sacred Ramjanmabhoomi.” Such feelings were those of religious bigotry and fanaticism. This act of ignorance and negligence towards basic human ideals led to one of the dirtiest and bloodiest phases of India’s 7000 year old history. Violent riots shook the country and both the communities were thirsty for each other’s blood.
It was all so unlike the nationalistic unity of the pre-Independence era. In the words of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, “Hinduism and Islam are the two eyes of the beautiful bride that was India.” But after all this, the bride was all but blind.
The 2002 Godhra riots gave us a shocking reminder that even a decade after the demolition of the Babari masjid, there was no visible improvement in the state of matters and sectarian mind-set still existed in the minds of some sections of the society. Eight years hence, the verdict has come. No one knows how the person sitting right next to him is feeling about it. There is an uneasy and unusual calm and quiet everywhere.
What remains to be seen is that has a 64 year old nation, a ‘senior citizen’ in terms of age, really matured into the sovereign, socialist and secular democratic republic it was supposed to be when its constitution was formed.
The court will not announce who was right and who was wrong but the hype, media frenzy and excitement surrounding the verdict does give all of us a chance to introspect and see what is right and what is wrong within us, look around and be decisive about what is right and what is wrong because as the present state of matters prevail, only God knows what is right and what is wrong.
Religion is not perfect, it is flawed because man is not perfect, man is flawed.
