“Ram and Krishna and Siva are the great dream and sorrow of India. To try to achieve consistency in their stories or to weave unfailing morality into their lives and remove all that looks like being false or improbable would be like trying to rob of everything except logic. … To the history of the Indian spirit, these three names are the truest and the greatest of the entire procession, so far ahead of and looming so large over the others that these appear false and improbable. Their stories are indelibly engraved on the mind of the people, the same as history is, after all, delibly recorded on stone or metal”. – Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Ram and Krishna and Siva, Essential Lohia – Part 2, pg. 217
As the date of Pran-Pratishtha, the consecration of Sri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya, is coming closer, the usual lot of Vighna-Santoshi – the people who derive pleasure from destructive things – have started showing their true colours. After opposing Ram Mandir in court through various gimmicks, Kapil Sibal claims Ram to be in his heart, and the event is just a ‘show of strength for BJP’. The Samajwadi Party that officially sided with the mosque for the sake of the vote bank and ordered firing on Sri Ram devotees is talking about the ceremony in Ayodhya as ‘the programme of Lord Sri Ram’ while saying the BJP should not interfere. Congress, as usual, is in a confused state of to be or not to be. But Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, who reduced himself to Sam Pitroda, is the mastermind of Congress strategies and has deep connections with the anti-Bharat forces in the West. He has questioned whether Ram Mandir is the real issue and advised to talk about employment, inflation, science, technology and challenges. We cannot expect much from the Communists. It was them who distorted the entire history, questioned the birthplace of Shri Ram and instigated Islamists to stand for Babar and Babari. They are forced to recognise the importance of religion in our national life, which is a significant defeat of their ideology. Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray’s group is facing the most awkward situation. The legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray that proudly claimed the responsibility for pulling down the Babari mosque, is destroyed by his son with the ‘secular’ sulking.
Though people have given their reply to each of these hypocrites through participation in the movement, it is necessary to reiterate the right spirit behind the Ram Mandir reconstruction to avoid further confusion. Reclamation of Prabhu Sri Ram’s birthplace in Ayodhya or for that matter, even Kashi and Mathura, was never about individual faith. Babar or Aurangzeb ordered the destruction of these temples not just to hurt some individual religious feelings but to subjugate the very spirit of Bharat as a nation. Similarly, the continuous struggle, which started immediately after the destruction and found new momentum after Independence with the reconstruction of Somnath temple, has always been about regaining and reclaiming that national consciousness. All sects of Bharat kept fighting for the same, and it was proved beyond doubt in the courts of law. So the claims of instigators like Owaisi that ‘we prayed there for 500 years’ has no legal or historical standing. The denial of historical wrongs by the invaders will not solve the present problems; acceptance and correction would help. All right-thinking people should strive for the same.
Patroda’s logic is not new. The assumption of self-proclaimed liberals that cultural resurgence and economic growth are antithetical to each other is fundamentally flawed. A wounded civilisation cannot realise its potential. Bharat’s economic progress has always been rooted in the cultural resurgence. The success story of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor must be taught in business schools to understand how and why pilgrimage was the connecting and galvanising factor for society and economy in Bharat.
Yes, Sri Ram is everyone’s, and anyone can seek his blessings. The ceremony organised by the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Nyasa on January 22, 2024, has specific protocol due to security and space considerations, hence the limited invitations for that day. Crores of Hindus, who have waited for this historic day as devotees, would be watching the ceremony in a nearby temple and celebrating Sri Ram’s return to his birthplace. The distractors who tried their best to deny this just national cause should also join the celebration and seek forgiveness from Prabhu Sri Ram for their sins. It is undoubtedly a momentous occasion that would give us confidence about our civilisation and ability to resurrect amidst all odds and pave the way for the goal of Ram Rajya. Instead of getting into petty politics, they should realise the pulse of the masses and work as per Dr Lohia’s prayer: “O India, Mother, give us the mind of Siva, the heart of Krishna, and the world and deed of Ram, create us with a non-dimensional mind and an exuberant heart, but a life of limits”.
