Ramayan- “Ayodhya Kaand”

The final denouement of the Ayodhya Kaand in modern history came as a relief and with almost a sense of anti-climax. The build up to the Ayodhya verdict had been so hyped that every Indian waited with apprehension for the announcement of the Allahabad High Court decision on the 60 year old dispute. Chaos prevailed at the press conference when the announcement was made. But what one could glean from all the hula-baloo was that the judges had been particularly sensitive to the sentiments of all parties concerned and had come up with a balanced and well-reasoned verdict.

It is a different matter that the verdict has really just skirted the issue of the Hindu-Muslim dispute and tried to appease all parties. The country’s saffron brigade is taking umbrage by the fact that 1/3 of the premises has been allocated to the Muslims and want to appeal against this judgement in the Supreme Court. Our own “secular netas” are going to milk the situation and push the Congress party on the back foot over the issue of being soft on Hindutva. The Muslim residents of Ayodhya feel this arrangement is not going to work and the Sunni Wakf Board will appeal to the Supreme Court as well.

Plans are already afoot to build a “grand temple” at the site of Ram Janmasthan and some RSS members have magnanimously asked the Muslims to come forward and help build the temple. This see-saw will continue and help to keep Ayodhya alive in the memory of the people. But does one stop to think what will building a temple, albeit a grand one, mean for the common people of this small, sleepy town in Faizabad, UP? When the rest of the world has advanced well into the space age, is fighting over Ram Chandra’s birth-place of so much relevance?

Religion is the opium of the masses, it is said. But isn’t it time we Indians snapped out of this stupor and filled the bellies of our masses with food and brains with education and not opium? Politicians are all dyed the same colour and they will not change. But how long can we sit idle and allow them to hold our beliefs, sentiments, needs, to ransom for their shallow self-interests? The media is the biggest politician of them all- when they saw that India had matured beyond their expectations from 1992,( the muted reaction to the verdict bears testimony)  the newspapers have come up with outrageous headlines trying to whip up public sentiments so that their subscriptions are augmented for just that much more!

The Indian public, however, has matured and become mellow. All the hysteria shown on TV has not really touched the lives of the common people. Life continues with its vagaries for most of us and for once I feel happy that my troubles are merely domestic and that my countrymen and neighbours are safe.