There is no ritual that can sanitise the genesis of the temple that will be consecrated in Ayodhya on 22 January. It exists because the house of worship of another religious community was razed by a mob of militant Hindus.
Those who condone this savagery as belated reversal of the destruction in the 16th century of a Hindu liturgical structure by Mir Baqi—who raised the Babri mosque on its site as a tribute to Babur—are perhaps too benighted to appreciate that they are applauding the very barbarism they decry in the Mughals.
But what of those who are sufficiently enlightened to distinguish religion from the republic—which is greater and grander than the sum of its parts—and pledge their allegiance to the latter while maintaining that the former is a private matter?
Their submission to the hysteria of this moment is sorrowful to behold.
So many who have marks on their backs for defending Indian pluralism from the depredations of this government have, over the past week, castigated the leadership of the Congress party for rejecting the “invitation” to attend the consecration of the temple in Ayodhya. Congress, some argued, squandered a rare opening to reconcile its debilitating contradictions and overhaul itself into a coherent opposition force. Its leadership, others said, injured the party by failing to appreciate the “mood” of the people, pushed it naively into a trap laid by the BJP, and made it even more vulnerable to the accusation that it is hostile to the Hindu majority. “Wouldn’t it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it?” Shekhar Gupta asked in his widely read column.
Here’s the trouble with this line of reasoning: to accept that the spectacle about to be staged in Ayodhya can be extricated from politics is to sanctify the falsification of our living memory. The inauguration of the temple to Ram in Ayodhya is not a religious event to which politicians have been invited out of courtesy; it is the culmination of the most consequential political agitation to remake India into a Hindu state to which politicians of all persuasions are being summoned to perform a legitimating role.
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Refusal to legitimise Hindutva chauvinism
To be present in Ayodhya is not to honour Ram. It is to acclaim the coronation of Hindutva as the religion of the Indian state, to become a signatory to a declaration of Hindu supremacy, to make a cross-party show of solidarity with one religious community and repudiation of all others, and to sacralise victimhood that—if not resisted—may devour India to feed itself.
Even if none of this occurred to the leadership of the Congress party—even if the motivations of Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were more pedestrian—they have succeeded in playing a redemptive role by choosing to absent themselves.
The fate that awaits Congress at the next election is unlikely to be altered by its leadership’s decision on Ayodhya: the party is not going to decimate the BJP even if Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge turn up at the temple draped in saffron and bearing lavish oblations for Ram.
The importance of their action will become apparent much later. When this period passes, when its heroes lose their lustre and its cheerleaders are covered in shame, all those being upbraided today for their disobedience will be commended for striking a gallant note of dissent.
But what if we never recover from this moment—what if India surrenders meekly to the erection of a formally communitarian state that is explicitly partisan? Then the generations who survey this squalid era for anything resembling decency will find reasons to feel hopeful.
India’s oldest political party, having once compromised for profit, found its nerve. It was perhaps too late, but it’s still something that it refused to legitimise with its presence a political pageant celebrating the triumph of vindictive religious chauvinism over the world’s most audacious experiment in secular democracy.
Kapil Komireddi is the author of ‘Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India’. Follow him on Telegram and Twitter. The views expressed above are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)
This is absolutely my thoughts on this political event. As a Hindu, I am ashamed that the teachings of Lord Ram are not being practised by the very same people who are part of this political event. Kindness and forgiveness is looked down as a weakness by the Hindu right. It was wise that the Congress stayed out of this event and dumb of Shekhar Gupta to not realise it. The mosque was nothing but a Muslim temple to pray to the same Ram which the Muslims refer to as Allah. God created humans and humans created religion. Religion was created for mental peace, today it is used to destroy peace.
For 100s of year Indian were followers of Mughals snd then British ideology and first time they woke up and given themselves some identity then so called seculars. Leftists and liberals are feel burnt and jeaolus..why not? They want every Indian to say Zindabad to Babar Aurangzeb and cruel British Raj.
Nothing else than Bashing of Hinduism and Hindu Temples is expected from a Woke Liberal , This is the reason People Don’t give any value to Print and Left liberals who have identity crisis and want the Public to act like flock of liberal sheeps instead of Accepting their Identity be it Hindu or any religion , This article reeks of Absolute Hate for Hinduism and Ram Temple !
The BJP/RSS has started a war within the Sanatani Hindu community itself, by alienating the Shankaracharyas by denying them any role in the consecration of the half-built temple in Ayodhya. It aims to replace the caste dependent RELIGIOUS authority of the Shankaracharyas with the BJP/RSS’s own POLITICAL authority, which will provide a NATIONAL identity dependent, not on caste, but on POLITICAL loyalty to the ideology of Hindutva, and to Hindu Rashtra. Muslims will be disenfranchised and expelled unless they accept a Hindutvavadi redefinition of Muslims as Mohammadi Hindus, or something similar.
This move has been developed over decades of patient ideological and cultural work by the RSS and its institutional family, ranging from education to provide ideological legitimation, to social relief during times of distress, to organizing riots and pogrom. But the left/liberal/secular response to this is utter confusion. This is because they have begun with an understanding of secularism that has proved to be utterly inappropriate for the creation of a polity that can remain at peace in its cultural, linguistic and religious diversity. The left/liberals have done almost none of the cultural, social, institutional, ideological and educational work that could have equipped the mass citizens of this democracy to resist the violence inherent in Hindutva, or build the harmony necessary for societies to accommodate the diversity Bharat needs for her own flourishing. Nor has the left ever tried to build legitimacy for its own aims and ideals, such as the equal dignity of all humans, within a Hinduistic narrative framework.
The power of the BJP/RSS is certain to be consolidated further after the 2024 general elections. But it will not be able to create an economically, socially, politically or ecologically sustainable future for the country with the values enshrined in the Constitution. On the contrary, it will continue ignoring the pressures growing out of the burgeoning inequalities generated by its neoliberal policies. The result will be another rape of Bharat Mata by her purblind devotees.
Komireddy is well-spoken and articulate, as you can expect from these Left-liberals. His accent itself tells you about foreign University impact and thinking. These people have no currency among ordinary people who vote in large numbers. He only makes sense to a few Khan market gangs and people willing to switch passports as long as they get greener pastures in exchange for Identity. The First Indian Constitution believed in pluralism but not secularism, but that word was inserted during the Emergency around the time this nincompoop came into the world.
Print’s failure to hire people from the center of politics or even a right of political opinion is appalling and a scam to its subscribers who don’t clear their stand on politics; they pretend to be centrists to get maximum money.
Leftist are a confused lot. In western countries like Canada and US they advocate for the demolition of statues of the founding fathers of those countries in the name of colonization and here in India they cry a lot if same thing happens. Interesting!
What is wrong with Hindutva being the state religion? Silly secularism is long dead. Modi should declare India as a Hindu Rashtra and get this over with once & for all.
So well written !!
Hindu bashing is an article of faith for woke religionists.
Brilliantly articulated.