Opinion From Somnath to Ayodhya

The three judges have also affirmed that Babri Masjid was built on a site where a Hindu temple existed. This important observation,based on clinching archaeological and architectural evidence,demolishes the claim advanced by many opponents of the Ramjanmabhumi movement that Babar did not order the demolition of any Hindu temple. The verdict,thus,is an appeal to the ‘negationists’ among Muslims,and also to secular extremists,to stop negating the historical truth about iconoclasm practised by Muslim invaders and conquerors. These idol-breakers acted,to use to the judges’ incontrovertible words,“against the tenets of Islam”. If religious extremists in Afghanistan could demolish the Bamyan Buddha statues in the 21st century,in the age of 24×7 television,are we to believe that no Hindu temples were assaulted by bigoted Muslim rulers in medieval India?

No less a person than Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,in his book Pakistan or The Partition of India,has written about Mahmood Ghazni’s repeated attacks on the Shiva temple in Somnath. Quoting Al’Utbi,an Arab historian,Ambedkar writes: “He (Mahmood Ghazni) demolished idol temples and established Islam. He then returned home and promulgated accounts of the victories obtained for Islam…and vowed that every year he would undertake a jihad against Hind.”

The sagas of Somnath and Ayodhya are interlinked in many instructive ways. If the decks are now cleared for the reconstruction of the Ayodhya temple by a judicial verdict,the Somnath temple was rebuilt after Independence as per a decision taken by Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet. It was inaugurated in 1951 by Dr Rajendra Prasad,India’s first President. Notably,Gandhiji had blessed the reconstruction of Somnath,which was a pet project of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Just as the rebirth of Somnath was the fulfillment of India’s national aspiration,so too will be the rebirth of Ayodhya. As former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had boldly said,“Mandir ka nirman rashtriya bhavna ka prakatikaran hai” (Construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya is an expression of national sentiment).

To know why,we should listen to the ringing words of Swami Vivekananda: “Temple after temple was broken down by the foreign conqueror,but no sooner had the wave passed than the spire of the temple rose up again. Some of these old temples of South India,and those like Somnath in Gujarat,will teach you volumes of wisdom,which will give you a keener insight into the history of the race than any amount of books. Mark how these temples bear the marks of a hundred attacks and a hundred regenerations,continually destroyed and continually springing up out of the ruins,rejuvenated and strong as ever! That is the national mind,that is the national life-current.”

In recent years,a perverted interpretation of Islam and secularism is goading some people into denying any place for Ram,an embodiment of many universal and eternal virtues,in the national and civilisational life-current of India. They ignore the fact that even the great Muslim poet Iqbal had hailed Ram as the ‘Imam-e-Hind’. On the other hand,a perverted interpretation of Hindutva had introduced an element of Muslim-hating bigotry in the Ayodhya movement,engendering the vandalism that demolished the Babri mosque. This act of Hindu extremism found no support among lay Hindus and Hindu intellectuals alike. Therefore,it is incumbent on the institutional leadership of the Ayodhya movement to acknowledge that the razing of the mosque on 6th December 1992 was against the tenets of Hinduism and that it hurt the sentiments of our Muslim brethren. This realisation is as necessary for lasting Hindu-Muslim reconciliation as realisation on the part of Muslims that opposition to the Hindus’s legitimate demand was untenable and myopic.

The Ayodhya verdict has given an opportunity for both Hindus and Muslims to shun strife and return to the path of sanmati,so essential for India’s national unity. May Muslims cooperate with Hindus in building the Ram temple. And may Hindus join hands with Muslims in building a mosque in the neighbourhood. If that happens,the Ayodhya of tomorrow will symbolise civilisational India at its harmonious best.

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