I have already written in length about problems with having religious believes run free in a country and their space in society. This blog is probably going to read like I am conflicted in my views, but without fear, I am still going to write. This week Indian Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the long-awaited Bhagwan Ram Janmabhoomi temple which is to be built on a site where Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and many other sects originating from India believe that the most pious of all Hindu gods - Ramji was born. This is the same spot where “The First Mughul Emperor - Babar” is documented to have demolished a temple with the same name and built a mosque.

I had good, bad and ugly all types of feelings about it. I will go through them one by one:

The Good

Hindus and their leaders waited for several years and went through a long legal battle since the British times, ~1880’s. The legal course was not abandoned and the construction of the temple was not done by force. It gives me a huge pride to belong to a country where people are willing to take a long legal course before resurrecting God’s birthplace. I cannot believe such things to happen in any country or religion. I found a piece of contemporary supporting news is from Turkey recently converted a church (lately a museum) to a mosque by force without much ado. Also, our country had largely been peaceful while the whole movement was carried out, except for a few instances.

जय श्री राम

There was a joy all around in India. My parents also prayed that post this pandemic ends and when there is a spectacular temple built, our family should visit and pay respects to the place.

The Bad

The mosque that was built by Babur was demolished unlawfully and it was done by a mob. That was a sad incidence in the history of our country. It was so sad that it brought shame to our society. Muslim community within our country felt depressed and low about their existence. Maybe for the first time, they felt bad that they do not have a say in this great country. Nobody was to hear them. There was some respite though from several political parties who tried to pacify society and bring some stability.

Many folks celebrated this day as a black day. Across our international border with Pakistan and Bangladesh, our two neighbouring Islamic countries, twitter and other social media trends suggested there were several demonstrations. IMHO, it is India’s internal matter and should not have been protested against by anyone in the world.

The Ugly

There are still several pending cases for the criminal provocation of public and inciting violence. During the demolition, many political leaders were supposed to be in charge of the situation but instead of holding the ground they just stood aside and let the mob take matters into their own hands. This was a crime and many in our country have suffered bad fate just because of that one day.

The AIMPLB (All India Muslim Personal Law Board) chief said that they (Muslims) will take back the land and demolish the temple again. It is despicable that such criminal provocation is being made, but one can understand that maybe it is coming out of grief and pressure to save face. Alternatively, AIMPLB could have welcomed the decision and started a new chapter of social cohesion.

My Take

The Ramji temple foundation stone laying instilled a sense of national pride in me and also lit up a soft corner for Hinduism. No country or religion or society is perfect, it needs to be made so. I felt good that we are evolving as a society and we had collectively shown great faith in the law of our country. Probably, ours is by default a non-extremist religion.