Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: RAMAJANAM BHUMI: AYODHYA-New Archaeological Discoveries
From: bhatnagr@ucunix.san.uc.edu (Raj Bhatnagar)
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 17:02:27 GMT
Organization: University of Cincinnati


Mohammad Nadeem writes :

>	May I add that what Rajib said, perfectly makes sense.  It is
>	high time that we Indians forget about being Hindu, Muslims,
>        Sikh, Christian, etc. and march towards progress.  

      Yes, a very sensible and most desirable thing to do. I fully agree
      with this sentiment of yours. However, the problem with the single
      minded pursuit of progress is that every once in a while politics
      is played in the name of religion based separatism and a partition
      of India is sought by the fanatics of the religion, resulting in the
      murder, eviction, and displacement of those citizens who were doing
      nothing else but single mindedly pursuing their economic betterment.

      I have met a few Hindu families from Kashmir. They were busy
      running businesses and making money for themselves all these 
      years, and had not dreamt that they will be evicted like this 
      from their homes because of their religion. 

      Same thing about Hindus who came from Pakistan in 1947.
      Some commission (Radcliffe?) was hearing the case for Lahore's
      future just before partition. The case for India, by Hindus, was
      presented for 7+ hours by a few attorneys who argued that most of
      the agriculture, industry, and business are owned by, operated by,
      and have been built by the Hindus over their generations and they 
      must not be displaced by giving Lahore to Pakistan. Pakistan's case
      was presented in less than 30 minutes by (I forget his name?) a
      Pakistan supporting Muslim, with the major argument that the Muslims 
      are in a majority and hence Lahore must go to Pakistan. And Lahore 
      went to Pakistan and those who were busy in economic pursuits became
      beggers and got kicked from their homes.

      An exactly same version of History can be told for the continuous 
      flow of Hindus into India from Bangla Desh.  

      And similar politics is being sensed by many Indians in the Northeast,
      in Kerala, and in West Bebgal where Muslims majority districts are
      coming up because of Bangladeshi migrations. The fears of Muslims
      majority districts seeking secession, tomorrow if not today, are not
      completely unfounded given the history of India during last 50 years,
      Pakistan's attitudes, and the resurgence in Islamic fundamentalism
      all over the world.

      Therefore, the people who were following exactly what you say, that
      is they were pursuing their economic betterment, got a boot because
      they did not play the politics of religion imposed upon them. It is
      these people who are now most determined to teach India the lesson that
      in addition to economic pursuits, playing of relevant politics for
      survival is equally important. You may know that Malkani, Advani, Madhok,
      K N Sahni - the BJP stalwarts - are all 1947 refugees from Pakistan.

      No, their's or RJB movement's objective is not
      to throw anybody out of India, but those Hindus who have suffered by
      the religious politics at least once are completely determined to drive
      home this point very hard that no such politics will be allowed again.
      The undrlying philosophy of this separatist politics is twofold - one
      that Islam exhorts Muslims to seek and create Islamic states, and two,
      that India was "once" ruled by Muslims and today's Muslims are somehow
      obligated to restore that empire in India which the British took away 
      from them.

      I see RJB movement as a deeply planned and minutely executed 
      symbolic movement to build a consensus of support. My assessment
      and hunch is that the disputed structure will not be harmed until
      a broad national consensus has been reached about its removal, and
      extremists such as Shahabuddin and Bukhari have been turned into
      insignificant forces. I don't know if the consensus is the right
      word but the idea is that most centers of power will be forced into
      giving in to VHP demand and thus a forced consensus will be obtained.
      This, in my view, is seen as a watershed because it will shatter
      the confidence of those who are seeking political power for Islam
      in India by partitioning it into pieces one by one. No, I don't see
      this as a movement against the religious aspects of Islam because
      no single mosque has been touched by the most volatile of the VHP
      activists. The objective is only to thrash at the political objectives
      being sought in the name of Islam by demonstrating a national acceptance
      of the fact that Babar was a foreigner, his victory towers can be
      done away with, and those seeking to restore his empire will meet
      a similar response in India.

      Yes, it is a long term psychological warfare and a battle of wits;
      and not a mob reaction to some religious passion. They are willing
      to draw as many muslims into their fold as possible because that will
      contribute towards rendering Bukharis and Shahabuddins ineffective.
      They have demonstrated this fact by having a Muslim driver for 
      Advani's Rath Yatra and by hiring Muslims for weaving the janeoo's 
      (threads) and making wooden Ram-sandals as mentioned in another 
      post recently.

      So, it is all long term politics and those who argue about it in terms
      of the merits/demerits of Ram's birth place are kind of clueless about
      the games that are being played.



>	Nadeem.
>-- 



---raj




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