The consecration of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya by a ‘Pran Prathistha’ ceremony may have been the climax in the saga of two idols which appeared there back in 1947, but more important to the man speaking at the inauguration, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was how what was supposed to be a religious ceremony was going to boost his chances of reelection in the poll later this year. The consecration was meant as a symbol of the triumph of Hindutva over Islam, of the end of the path along which the 1992 demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya was a major event. The mosque had been locked ever since the discovery of idols in the mosque, which Hindus claimed had miraculously appeared, but which Muslims said had been sneaked in by Hindu miscreants. The Hindu claim was that there was a mosque built on top of the Ram Janambhoomi, and that the mosque should be demolished so that a Ram Mandir could be built there, Muslims made no claims for the mosque beyond its being a mosque. The Indian Supreme Court finally decided the case, in favour of the Mandir. The 1992 demolition of the Babri Mosque resulted in no convictions, even though it was a very public event, and unlike the placing of the idols, took place in broad daylight.
Even though Muslims around the world are at moment engaged by events in Palestine, they should not be oblivious of what is happening in India. Mr Modi has been in office now for almost a decade, and in this time, has torn off the mask of secularism India had worn. He is not some tinpot dictator, and has been elected twice with his brand of Hindu extremism. It follows that he is acting with the approval of the Hindu majority.
Indian Muslims stayed indoors during the ceremonies which received extensive coverage, while Pakistani Muslims should prepare themselves for more mosques to be demolished, more mandirs to be built on their sites. The ‘saffron brigade’ has already prepared a list of the mosques in India which it claims were built on temples. There is the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi where a Shivlingam has allegedly appeared, and the Shahi Eidgah in Mathura, while it has been claimed that the Taj Mahal has been built on top of a temple. Already, Muslims are being killed. Is it not just a matter of time before the killing becomes genocidal?
