Does Skipping Ram Temple Event Qualify As Secular?

Ayodhya is getting decked up for the grand consecration of the Ram Temple. The Ram Janmabhoomi Trust is making all-out efforts to ensure that this mega event becomes a “great moment of joy for everybody” and called upon the people to celebrate the day as a festival. The consecration will take place according to the traditions of the Ramanandi sect of Vaishnav sadhus and sanyasis.

Ramanandi Sect: This largest sect of Vaishnav sadhus and ascetics in the country was started in the medieval period by Swami Ramanand. This sect accepts the Vishishtadvaita theory of ‘mukti’ and is one of the four oldest sects of Bairagi sadhus. The sect is also referred to as Bairagi, Ramavat, and Shri Sampradaya and believes in Paramopasya Dwibhujram as Brahma while its basic mantra is ‘Om Ramay Namah’. Along with various incarnations of Vishnu, they worship Sita and Hanuman as well, but consider the grace of both Ram and Vishnu indispensable for salvation. He was the first Acharya who brought the bhakti tradition that originated in the Dravidian region in the south to north India.

Architectural brilliance, religious significance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who laid the foundation stone for this project three years back would attend the ceremony of installation of the idol or Ram Lalla on January 22. This event will also draw dignitaries from all walks of life including veteran BJP leaders like former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and former union minister Murli Manohar Joshi. Despite their age-related issues, they are likely to participate in this historic moment. It may be recalled these two leaders were in the forefront when the Babri Masjid was razed to the ground by kar sevaks.

The residents of Ayodhya are delighted as the temple would become one of the greatest tourist attractions and would bring in new avenues of revenue and the hospitality industry would get a major boost as both Indian and foreign tourists would visit the temple in large numbers.

While the celebration is in the air, the political parties other than BJP are in a big dilemma. The Janmabhoomi Trust has invited leaders of all political parties including the grand old Congress party and the left parties to attend the ceremony, though it is the general opinion that majority of the leftists are atheists.

But interestingly I have seen that some of the family members of these left leaders perform pujas and believe in god. When they perform marriages, they follow the Hindu traditions. During elections, they badly need Hindu votes. Then why are partners of bloc INDIA indulging in hypocrisy? In a lighter vein, it is interesting to note that there are Rama and Sita in the name of CPM leader Sitaram Yechury.

But as of now the INDIA bloc seems to be suffering from a big block in their minds. Most of the partners of INDIA bloc, except DMK which said they will not attend, have so far refrained from making their stand clear. “Still there is time we will see,” some say. Congress has written a thanks letter to Ram Janmabhoomi Trust and is non-committal on joining the celebrations. They perhaps feel that if they participate, it may help the BJP. “Kya Soch hai.” Some of the leaders feel that this is a game plan of the saffron party to win 350 seats. What a weird thinking! This event may help BJP get a few more seats, but can this alone make them win such huge majority? Certainly not.

But then why are the Congress leaders so hesitant even to accept or reject the invitation? Are they afraid that they will lose the Muslim votes? Another big question which INDIA bloc will have to answer is if they will adopt the same stand of neutrality when the Babri Masji would be ready and get inaugurated

They also need to answer if by not going to Ayodhya whether they will become secular. Does secularism mean ignoring the major community? Can this help them get Muslim votes en bloc and catapult the INDIA bloc to power? Certainly not. Then why this drama?

What if some of its partners attend and others don’t? For example, Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav who is also a member of I.N.D.I.A said he would attend the ceremony. Does this mean that SP will have to forego Muslim votes? Will he be branded as ‘B’ team of BJP? Mayawati, the leader of Bahujan Samajwadi Party, needs to be appreciated here because she made it clear that being a secular party, she would participate in the inauguration of Ram Temple at Ayodhya and her party would also participate in the function of inauguration of Babri Masjid as and when it is ready. She is not part of the I.N.D.I.A but has shown great maturity knowing fully well that her party has to contest in 2024 Lok Sabha elections where she would also need Muslim votes. It would also be wrong to say that all Muslims are against Ram Temple.

Then why is it that INDIA bloc which has so many grey-haired octogenarian leaders, strategists and policy makers think in a different way. Don’t they believe in the policy of ‘Sarva Dharma and Sama Bhav’? If they want to be so neutral, why did Rahul Gandhi visit temples during Gujarat elections and recent Assembly elections in Telangana?

The so-called major political parties which dream to rule the country should also learn a lesson from Nihang Sikh Community. Jathedar Baba Ranjit Singh Rasulpur in a statement said on the occasion of the consecration of Lord Rama on January 22, 2024, in Ayodhya, Nihang Sikh Community will be organizing a langar to celebrate the auspicious occasion. The purpose of the Langar is to show that Sikhs and Hindus are one and they celebrate moments of joy together.

Well, there is another point that the bloc INDIA will have to answer. Do they know that the Trinamool Congress led by Mayawati who is one of the partners of the bloc has been doing all that the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi is accused of doing? Do they know that Kashi-style Ganga aarti takes place along Hooghly. Certainly, they cannot be blind to the fact that replicas of Puri Jagannath and Vaishno Devi are also there.

West Bengal is quiet ahead in promoting temple tourism. Ahead of Modi’s proposed visit to Kolkata to attend a widely publicised event where over one lakh people will recite hymns form Bhagvadgita, TMC leaders attended a similar event at Jaganath temple. Gitapath is also being organised at Brigade parade grounds.

What does this show? It shows that there is great competition for Hindu votes in West Bengal. The TMC apparently wants to prove the attempts of BJP wrong which has been trying to paint them as anti-Hindus and a party which prefers appeasement politics. There were many occasions when Mamata Banerjee was seen chanting slokas at rallies. The possibility of Mamata joining the celebrations at Ayodhya is also not ruled out though they are yet to announce their decision. If some more partners of INDIA bloc also attend, does it not expose the hypocrisy of the non-BJP political parties?

It’s high time the political parties stop merely chanting the slogan of secularism, and put it in practice.