Between the late 1980s to early 1990s, nationwide campaigns such as Shri Advani’s Rath yatra were organised across the country by both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and various hindutva outfits such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) against the Babri masjid in favour of the Ram Mandir and future projects like the Mandir. During this time, many hindutva outfits also ran schools both in primary and secondary level to teach the Sangh Parivar’s vision of faith.
The 1980s and 1990s were a complex period of time especially for India’s youth politically. In schools and universities at the time, it would mark a period where a generation of youth, particularly middle class and upper caste youths were convinced of the need to construct the Mandir. Many analysts would credit this youth to be the foundation that would attempt to influence future generations on the importance of the mandir across multiple backgrounds from the humble labourer to the influential white collar executive. In contrast to today’s celebratory sentiments, critics have pointed during the early 1990s sentiments from newspaper headlines to even interviews with religious personalities and the rural population showed condemnation and awareness of the political undertones behind the demands of the Mandir and the demolition of the Masjid.
The celebratory sentiments were paired with nationwide criticism from academics, journalists, and larger sections of muslim and minority communities who condemned the white washing of a humiliating and bloodsoaked period of history, and the political motivations being disguised as a religious event. Many critics have been appalled that despite this knowledge and historical ethics, many people nationwide have continued to celebrate, which was compounded with a series of hate crimes and communal mobs in cities across the country and disruptions of student protests and screenings of the 1992 documentary “Ram ke Naam”. Across the border, many have commented how the celebration of the Mandir has led to Pakistan’s religious far right to justify their support for the 2 nation theory that supported the Partition of India and even discredit critics. Internationally, the opening has been controversial for its political undertones and has been described as the prime minister’s indirect beginning for his campaign for a third term in office with human rights organisations classifying the event as part of India’s eroding Secularism with the mixture of religion into politics.
With these observations, many have debated whether with the opening of the Mandir, if Indian secularism and democracy are beyond repair with newspapers like The Economist rejecting the narrative implying that despite the sectarianism, democracy will continue to survive. With history being whitewashed with celebratory attitudes, and a generation of youth convinced that the Masjid’s violent demolition was justified, many also worry if the Mandir will be the beginning of a dark series of events in the country’s future. With these circumstances, many hope that in the future, India will look back at this bloody history and its whitewashing to what it was labelled in the 90s, a national shame. Image credit:
コメント