Opposition lacks political maturity

 

Over 500-years struggle to reinstate Maryada Purushottam Prabhu Ramchandra’s temple on the land of Ayodhya finally culminated on August 5, 2020 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed bhoomipujan (laying of foundation stone) for construction of Ram Mandir. And on January 22, the ‘Pranpratishtha’ of Lord Ram will be duly enshrined in the grandeur temple of Ayodhya. This temple in Ayodhya will be a symbol of India’s glorious culture, India’s identity, faith, nationality and collective struggle of crores of citizens. The fight for Ram Mandir was in fact a fight for identity of every Indian. History has it on how Mughal invaders destroyed our places of worship  and later the British destroyed our culture of Lord Ram that weaves the tapestry of India. British, however, had not destroyed our temples and other religious places like the Mughal invaders but made attempts to wipe out the traces of India’s ancient culture, values and enslaved Indians.

With the consecration of Ram Mandir, India will once again prove its rich culture to the world. In fact, the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is no longer a religious issue; it is a matter of national pride. It may be recalled that when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had started the movement for construction of Ram Temple, they had repeatedly clarified that this struggle wasn’t against any particular religion. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the temple building movement was in full swing, many political parties, intellectuals, literary and journalists’ groups kept demanding proofs that Ayodhya was the real birth place of Lord Ram. At that time, Congress’s leadership, both at the Centre and in the state, were not in favour of construction of Ram Mandir.

When the impact of the movement for construction of Ram Temple began to be felt in North India and when pressure from local leadership in Uttar Pradesh increased, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi granted permission for the laying of foundation stone for Ram Mandir. Till that time, the Congress-Communist ideological leaders never gave their unequivocal support to the construction of Ram Mandir. But after seeing the response for Kar Seva of 1990 and 1992 that saw martyrdom of several Kar Sevaks, the Opposition softened their language. But the Congress never took a decisive stance and never tried to settle the issue of Ram Mandir, even on the legal front.

In fact, Congress was in power at the Centre for ten consecutive years from 2004 to 2014 when Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government could ensure that the hearing in Ayodhya case in the Supreme Court was expedited and verdict delivered. But they failed to do so as both, the Manmohan Singh government and BJP’s opponents lacked the intent of getting Ram Mandir constructed in Ayodhya. The Manmohan Singh government, the Communists, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party,  Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad and socialist ideological groups always failed to take note of the feelings and beliefs of majority of Hindus, since they lacked affinity towards our culture. But the moment Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre, it took recourse to all legal means to expedite the hearing of all the cases that were pending in the Supreme Court on Ram Mandir until the final verdict in favour of construction of Ram Mandir came through from the Supreme Court.

The congregations that had always kept issues like Ram Mandir pending are not quite happy with the completion of construction of Ram Mandir. And this is what is leading to the series of discussions that have once again started on this issue. In Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray and his group is complaining for not being invited for the inauguration whereas the Congress and the other parties of the ‘Ghamandia’ Alliance despite receiving invitations, are turning their backs, thus raising doubts about Ghamandia Alliance’s stance over the issue. Veteran leader Pawar Saheb said he wouldn’t be attending the inaugural function but he also did not lose the opportunity to criticize the Bharatiya Janata Party. Now whether he should attend the function is his personal decision but when he makes such statements, he only proves his affinity in pampering secularism. Recently, one of his disciples also exhibited his acumen when he made statement that Lord Ram was never a vegetarian.

In the current scenario, at least Pawar Saheb was expected to show enough maturity of keeping politics out of the Ram Mandir issue, that holds immense pride in the eyes of millions of Indians. People must remember that Ram Janmabhoomi Trust was created by the Modi government but on the directives received from the Supreme Court.  And hence, when the Trust was sending out invitations, the Opposition leaders should have accepted it and shown their political maturity. But this level of maturity is too much to expect from the current Opposition. They fail to realize that Ram Mandir is not a matter of pride only for Hindus but for every Indian. And when they refuse to participate, these leaders, think-tank and journalist show that they have nothing to do with India and its culture. And hence, I am compelled to say that by refusing to attend the inaugural function, the Ghamandia Alliance is deliberately trying to show how Ram Mandir is an initiative of the BJP and the Sangh. And when their leaders make such statements, they only show how outdated they are in the current political framework.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India -08 January 2024)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson