Today, after a gap of 500 years, Lord Ram will be re-installed in a huge and magnificent Hindu temple in Ayodhya. It will bring about a closure to the highly controversial and contentious issue.
He was an avatar of Lord Vishnu in the Hindu pantheon of Gods, who took mortal birth to destroy evil forces like “Ravana” and establish dharma or the rule of Law.
The sacred epic narrating his life history, the Ramayana, is respected all over and is supposed to have been written down hundreds of years ago.
The arrival of Ram back to Ayodhya his kingdom, after defeating Ravana has been celebrated in India for time immemorial as the festival of lights Diwali.
Over the years, Ram has symbolised the ideal and aspirations of many Indians cutting across caste, language and even religious barriers.
Post-independence while the government had rebuilt Somnath temple which was destroyed by invaders, Ram temple was not.
This issue became a rallying point for the pro-Hindu political party the Bharatiya Janata Party which kept the reclaiming and rebuilding of the Ram temple at the forefront of its political agenda and its manifestoes during every election, the party’s fortunes turned from just 2 seats to over 300 by focussing on this one theme. The Ram Jananbhoomi movement really helped the party to consolidate its hard core Hindu votes and trounce Congress from its seat of power at the Centre.
The Rath Yatra carried out by BJP leader L.K.Advani for reclaiming the Ram Janambhoomi leading to the pulling down of the Masjid by the kar sevaks resulting in communal riots clearly lead to deepening of fissures among communities but was clearly advantageous politically to the BJP.
The Congress somehow was not able to take advantage politically of this whole issue and remained ambivalent about it. It was a tight rope walk for it because it could not antagonise its Muslim vote bank by showing great interest in the Mandir nor antagonise its Hindu voters who were being wooed by the BJP.
Ram Mandir was the “Brahmastra” of the BJP politically. Now that the Mandir has been built, BJP has to look for other issues which can be emotionally as powerful as the Mandir which virtually touched every Hindu.
It was however not as easy to build a temple as to destroy a mosque. The matter went to court and remained there for years. However, BJP kept reviving the Ram temple issue in every election to keep it alive and definitely gained political benefits.
The mandir issue got a real fillip when the Supreme Court gave ruling in its favour as it was a matter of faith. The court gave credence to ASI report about non-Islamic structure under the mosque.
Today, Ram Mandir has lost much of the emotive power which it has during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Muslims and Hindus are also slowly adjusting to the new realities with a second generation taking over and would not like to stoke the fire any longer.
The political climate of 1992 when BJP was struggling for power and 2024 has completely changed. The BJP has been enjoying power for long at the Centre, the built Mandir is just another of its commitments fulfilled.
However, being astute politicians BJP leaders would definitely try to drum beat about building the Ram Temple in the forthcoming elections, even if for the last time.
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