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| Ayodhya Temple, national pride? |
In a few hours from now Prime Minister Modi will lay a 40 kg silver
brick in Ayodhya to mark the beginning of the construction of a humungous
temple. India is grappling with a deadly pandemic like most countries in the
world. India is the fifth worst affected country and given the country’s
enormous population any sane leader would think of spending revenue on providing
better medical facilities. But Modi knows how to earn his place in recorded
history: architecture. He spent an incredibly large sum on a statue that stands
600 feet tall on lands that belonged to 185 families. Mr Modi seems to think
that the statue will give a stiff competition to the Taj Mahal.
If not the statue, this temple in Ayodhya should give that competition.
There’s more in the offing too: Central Vista in Delhi. Mr Modi can surely hope
to get his name imprinted in history as THE ARCHITECT of endemic India in pandemic times.
The Ayodhya temple has much emotive potential and Mr Modi wants to make
political capital on that. It is a symbol of history’s revenge on the Mughals
and their descendants who dominated the country’s ethos for very long. Call it
cultural vengeance, if you wish. Modi emerges as the colossal, historical defender
and guardian of Hindu religion and culture. He hopes that history will put him
at least on a par with, if not above, Akbar and Shah Jahan. Mediocre souls do not
possess the imagination to be different from their enemies!
A great mind existing in 21st century would have thought of
replacing gods and temples with whatever could enhance the quality of the life
of the people under one’s charge. The primary duty of any elected political leader
is to ensure the welfare of the people who elected him. Millions of those
people who elected Modi walked hundreds of kilometres when the pandemic broke
out and Modi declared lockdown. The people lost their jobs. They starved. They had
to vacate their residences. They walked to their villages where starvation
awaited them. What did Modi do? Promised them a historical temple, Pie in the
Sky.
The people are to be blamed too. They supported Modi’s bigotry for enjoying
vicarious pleasures of historical conquests. They imagined themselves to be
conquerors when they lynched hapless victims on streets and byways and Modi
pretended not to see. Now they gloat over the glorious temple to come up in the
place of the mosque they had brought down. They know the temple is going to give
them the satisfaction of a few historical belches.
Belches of satiated egos make up most human history. The Ayodhya temple
will be another of Modi’s historical belches. For the future generations, it
will appear as a gargoyle built on the edifice of human civilisation. Thank our
stars, we still have medical professionals who are ready to take risks for the
sake of our real civilisation.
PS. My 2 earlier posts on
Ayodhya: Ayodhya
Politics – 1 [old history]
Ayodhya
Politics – 2 [later history]
Your thoughts are agreeable but please appreciate that at this juncture, the prime minister of India can do little but to allow himself to move with the flow of the running water. If he tries to swim against the tide at this stage of the whole issue, he will sink. And who wants to sink ?
ReplyDeletePolitical expediency? I accept that. Expediency always lands you in the pit you dug for others.
DeleteBut Modi is not only expedient but also shrewd and narcissistic. The shrewdness tells him how to bluff people for political gains and narcissism propels him to take up gargantuan projects.
Well written. The post has your signature style!
ReplyDeleteModi invariably brings out that style.
DeleteHistory not starts only from Mughal period.
ReplyDeleteIn a Democratic nation aspirations of the voters even if they may be considered as foolishness by minoraties are to be considered.yhen it can be said as Democratic.
The history of India points out that it is drawn from Hindu civilisation. The relics of this history is to be protected i.e if distroied to be rebuilt.
I don't say that Rama was born in Ayodhya.
But that place had some importace in the heart of the people who believe in Hinduism. Let it be honored.
Modi is an instrument of time.
Let it be happened.
Let the history may remember him .
When we study history we remember so many historians with whom we can't agree with.
I'm afraid you didn't grasp the essence of my post. Do we still need temples at all? Can't we grow up beyond that infantile need? See how this temple issue (and even the emotional way you speak about it) takes us back to primitive instincts of seeing people as minority-majority, us-them, etc. Shouldn't a leader of today take people beyond those feelings? That's the quintessential question raised in the post.
DeleteIt's really no concern of mine whether Rama existed at all. It doesn't matter again whether people are really going to pray in that temple. I know another majestic temple on the bank of the Yamuna in Delhi which is just a tourist attraction charging hefty entrance fees. Maybe we can make this another such tourist attraction. Add some emotions too so that more money can be collected!
Well, I'm not sure if I've really made the point clear. But let it be.
Why is our prime minister dump enough to not realize that gods(if they exist), don't require mans help.
ReplyDeleteModi is far, far from being dumb. He is the shrewdest man alive in today's India. He's playing a game that even Chanakya could not have strategised. It is a game which looks divine but is devilish.
Delete