Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court rejected a petition seeking permission to offer namaz at the disputed site in Ayodhya on Thursday while imposing a fine of Rs. 5 lakh on the petitioner saying the appeal was filed for “cheap publicity”.
 
Justices DK Arora and Alok Mathur of the Lucknow bench of the high court passed the order on the petition of Al-Rahman Trust, which had requested the court to give permission to offer namaz at the disputed site.
 
The court directed District Magistrate Faizabad to realise the fine amount if it is not deposited by the Trust.
 
The Supreme Court had on October 29 adjourned the Ram temple-Babri Masjid land dispute case to January. The court is hearing a batch of petitions challenging a 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict that ordered a three-way division of the land in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on which the Babri Masjid stood before Hindutva activists demolished it on December 6, 1992.
 
The High Court divided the land equally between the Nirmohi Akhada, the Sunni Wakf Board and the representative for the deity, Ram Lalla, or the infant Ram. The clamour to build a Ram temple at the disputed site is rising in the extreme Hindutva factions.
 

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The formula of success for BJP has been well internalized by the party; divisive emotive issues, return of Lord Ram in election seasons, supplementing other identity issues like Holy cow, Vande matram, Love jihad etc.; have formed the powerful armamentarium of this party. As we are to face the general elections in a year to come, Lord Ram is being brought back to the social-political scene yet again.

This time around, RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat set the ball rolling with his prodding in Udupi Dharma Sanasad of VHP in November 2017. The cue was taken up by VHP and under the aegis of VHP and Muslim Rashtriya Manch, and yatra started from Ayodhya in UP to Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu. The organization convening the whole exercise is Shri Ramdas Mission Universal Society from Maharashtra. It is having the Rath shaped in the pattern of the proposed temple at Ayodhya. The yatra’s agenda is politically clear; its major aims reveals yet again as to what do these followers of Hindu nationalism aim at. Their demands include establishing Ram Rajya, a grand temple at Ayodhya, to include Ramayana in school syllabus and to shift the weekly holiday of Sunday to Thursday etc.

While Muslim Rashtriya Manch is an organization handy in for RSS to pretend as if Muslims also support it, the truth is that majority of Muslims by now realize that the religious minorities are being relegated to second-class citizenship, with all the violence around Beef, Love Jihad, Tiranga (tricolour) etc. Surely among the nearly 16 crore Muslim population, there are bound to have the likes of Zafar Sareshwalas, who will like to curry the favours’ from BJP for various reasons and blow the trumpet of ruling party. Let’s have a look at the demands posed by the Yatra. As far as the establishment of Ram Rajya is concerned, the same Ram Rajya can be looked at in various ways. Gandhi tried to look at it in an inclusive way, by seeing the parity of Ram and Rahim, Ishwar and Allah. Ambedkar and Periyar were deeply disturbed by Lord Ram’s killing of Bali from behind and killing of Dalit Shambuk as he was doing penance, despite caste norms not permitting it. Ram projected by Advani-BJP-RSS is intimidating to minorities and has an exclusive approach.

Many a Muslim majority countries are having weekly off on Friday, on those lines, the demand has been put forward to have it on Thursday. What is to be seen primarily is that India is currently connected with offices worldwide, business offices will have better functioning in keeping with global norms. As far as introducing Ramayana in school syllabus is concerned RSS VHP again seems to have a narrow view. One recalls that ABVP, the student wing of RSS had created ruckus against the seminal essay on Lord Ram by A K Ramanujan, Three Hundred Ramayana’s… and got it deleted from the syllabus. This essay tells us that there are many versions of Lord Ram story. The telling of these diverse Ramayana’s is at variance with each other. For example Ram story, ‘Ramkin’ prevalent in Thailand, has Lord Hanuman, not as a celibate but a family man. The Ramayana prevalent in parts of Andhra has a version which is from the angle of women. Again Valmiki Ramayana and Tulsidas Ramayana also have some nuanced difference. RSS combine has a single version to uphold. So which Ramayana will be introduced?

As such the issues raised by this combine have no relevance to the needs of Hindus, despite the claims that RSS is for Hindus. What will social and economic goals be achieved by the Ram Temple or Ram Rath yatra? Will it solve the issues of Hindu farmers or Hindu jobless youth? Will this enhance the health and nutritional status of Hindu women and children? Will it address the issues of Dalits who are facing caste atrocities or will it any way help the women, incidents of violence against whom are rising by the day?

The yatra is being taken out at a time when Supreme Court is in the process of hearing the case related to land dispute where the Babri mosque was located. What signal does this Yatra give regarding the upholding the decisions of the Courts? The Hindu nationalists are diverting the social attention and resources in directions which relate purely to emotive aspects of dominant sections of society. Yogi Adityanath in his budget has given provisions for Ram Idol in Ayodhya, allotted money for celebrating Divali and Holi. A state where children have died due to lack of Oxygen cylinders such a budget is an insult to the concept of social welfare. Such Yatras are purely having political goals. If Gandhi’s Ram is asked what will he prefer to have at the site where Mosque was demolished, surely his answer would be to have a public utility like a Hospital or a University, and not his temple!
 

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Joining CJP are a galaxy of prominent Indians from various walks of life. These include, Shyam Benegal, Aparna Sen, Om Thanvi, RB Sreekumar, Anand Patwardhan (Ram Ke Naam), Ganesh Devy, Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Anil Dharker, Ganesh Devy, Teesta Setalvad, Joy Sengupta, Cyrus Guzder, Ram Rahman, Sohail Hashmi, MK Raina, Dr. BT Lalitha Naik, John Dayal, Suman Mukhopadhyay, Kiran Nagarkar, Kumar Ketkar, Kalpana Kannabiran, KL Ashok, KP Sripala, AK Subbaiah, Suresh Bhatt Bakrabail, Prof G Haragopal, N. Babaiah, Tanaz Dara Mody, Muniza Khan, Tanveer Jafri and Dolphy D’souza. 

Their plea is that the Supreme Court exercise its jurisdiction, not treat this matter like a narrow property dispute and instead recognise the ramifications of letting religion dictate the fate of a piece of land. CJP implores the court to take cognisance of the meaning of the word Ayodhya, a compound word formed by adding together ‘a’ meaning ‘without’ and ‘yudh’ meaning ‘war’. Ayodhya, a space that should exist for all, without conflict, has come to symbolise a vicious and bigoted conflict between communities.

CJP filed its intervention application to the civil suit on Dec 1 and is likely to present its stand when hearing begins on Dec 5 at the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, it has uploaded an online petition on its website, seeking ordinary Indians sign up in support of Peace in Ayodhya. Citizens can read and sign the petition at cjp.org.in/peace-in-ayodhya/

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As the anniversary of one of Independent India’s worst communal conflagrations approaches, let’s take a stroll through Ayodhya, its epic past and it very real present.

Image Courtesy: The Week
 

Once Upon a Time in Ayodhya

According to the epic Ramayana, many, many years ago… in a kingdom by a mighty river, there lived a great king named Dashrath, who had four valiant sons. Ram, the oldest son, was believed to be an avatar of the Great Vishnu himself, for he was brave, noble, just, fair and loyal. He was so devoted to his family, that he willingly spent over a decade living in the forest to please his father and step mother. He was the maryada purushottam and therefore hailed as divine.

As is customary, legend and folklore copulated to produce a powerful and inspirational hero that the masses have looked upto and prayed to for wisdom, health and wealth for centuries. So far, so good… right? Trouble began when people started shedding blood in the name of this God-King and justified it by saying others had slain his followers and demolished a temple at the spot of his birth to erect a shrine of another religion… one that was associated with ‘blood thirsty’ and ‘savage’ invaders… the ‘outsiders’… the ‘others’.

Today centuries after the invasion when people from all communities, cultures, ethnicities have seemingly assimilated under the common ‘Indian’ identity, the promised temple at Ram Janm Bhoomi and the now demolished Babri Mosque, still figure prominently in shaping the narrative at Ayodhya. Interestingly, Ayodhya, a compound word formed by joining ‘a’ meaning ‘without’ and ‘yudh’ meaning ‘war’ became a city synonymous with the genesis of one of the most chilling communal conflicts in the entire history of India!
But let’s step away from the hate, the dust and debris, the bloodlust and the scars of history. Let’s take a look at modern day Ayodhya.

Twitter Image: Kaushal Vidyarthee

Demographics

According to data from the 2011 Census, Ayodhya today is a city of over 55,000 people. It has an abysmal sex ratio though. There are just 763 females per 1000 males. This is well below the UP state average of 912 females per 1000 males. According to Census data, over 93 percent of the population is Hindu while 6 percent are Muslims. However, 40 percent of the population, that belongs to communities engaged in fishing, shoe-making and other blue collar jobs, identifies as Dalit or Bahujan.

Economy

The economy of Ayodhya is largely dependent on tourism as it is home to the Hanuman Garhi Fort, Nageshwarnath Temple, Janki Mahal, Tulsi Chaura and many other places of interest associated with the Ramayan. Ayodhya also has special significance among Budddhists and Jains and is home to many sites of religious significance from these cultures as well. Ayodhya is infact said to be the birthplace of five Jain Tirthankaras including the first, Sri Rishab Dev. The city is referred to as Saket in Buddhist texts. This is why it draws tourists from across religious lines.

Many people run small businesses related to tourism, such as shops selling religious texts, idols and trinkets, or run small grocery stores and corner shops, eateries and small private firms. There is also a thriving quilt selling business where local shopkeepers purchase shreds left behind on the floors of quilt making industries in adjoining districts and then manufacture patchwork quilts that are bought and used by tourists. Many youngsters also drive auto-rickshaws to ferry tourists from one spot to another.

There are cottage industries dedicated to making khadau or wooden slippers that are fashioned along the design Lord Ram was said to have sported and then discarded when his younger brother Bharat asked him for his footwear so he could reign in his stead while Ram, Lakshman and Sita completed their vanvas. Interestingly, it is Muslim artisans who manufacture these khadaus. Many other people are engaged in horticulture and garland making as the holy city has a high daily consumption of such items. Seasonal agriculture is practiced along the river Saryu on the outskirts of the city.

Education

Literacy rates are high in Ayodhya. While men score over 83 percent, women are not too far behind with a tally of over 71 percent. Ayodhya has five colleges and universities that are popular with students who want to pursue higher education in Sanskrit. However, due to high unemployment in Ayodhya, most graduates leave Ayodhya for greener pastures in neighbouring districts where most of them end up in teaching jobs.

As the Supreme Court deliberates on the Ram Janm Bhoomi – Babri Masjid dispute in the days to come, and political forces vie to keep the communal pot boiling, perhaps the answers to city’s future and the key to peace in the region, lies in the hands of the Millennials of Ayodhya.

Related Articles
1. Ayodhya Dispute: Supremacy of Constitution or Faith?

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