AYODHYA VERDICT: THE BATTLE OF FAITHS

On September 24th the Allahabad High court bench will pronounce the Ayodhya title suit verdict after sixty years. The title suit case was first filed in December 1950 by Mahant Ramchandra Das Paramhans which was followed by several more suits filed by other parties including the Sunni Central Boards of Waqfs, UP, in December 1961. A total of four suits were clubbed together and brought before the Allahabad High Court which began recording oral evidence in July 1996.

The interesting point is that the court will decide whether Lord Ram was born at that very same disputed piece of land where the Babri mosque structure stood. The whole Ayodhya movement began as a socio religious issue in the

19th century and became a burning political issue by the late 1980’s which changed the political landscape of this nation. BJP’s LK Advani spearheaded the whole campaign via his Rath Yatra that bolstered BJP’s electoral strength.

‘Faith’ was the single most important factor on which this issue was carried forward. Many middle class average Hindus also subscribed to the belief that Lord Ram was born there and Mughal King Babar in the 16th century demolished an existing temple and constructed a mosque which was known as the Babri Masjid post independence. On 6th December 1992, the Babri mosque was demolished by Hindu activists, which led to one of the worst communal riots in different parts of the country which claimed thousands of lives.

Without getting into different versions of history advocated by either side, the real issue is that the court will decide whether Lord Ram was born there and if a temple existed before the Babri mosque was constructed on that site. An issue which never got solved through an out of court talks that will be decided in the court of law on the basis of ‘material’, evidence & documents. Though all parties involved in the case which includes the right wing Hindu groups, Muslim groups and the political parties have appealed to maintain peace and accept the court verdict, almost all of them have suggested that the legal option of going to the Supreme Court is still open to them if either side is unhappy with the verdict. The irony of the situation is also the stand of two principle political parties which have been at the heart of the problem. The BJP which captured power on the back of this issue is now in a situation where it is trying to reposition itself as a moderate right wing party in order to strike a chord with the new generation. On the other hand the Congress which has never taken a clear stand on the issue and has changed its position depending on the prevailing political environment and is now in the process of regaining the confidence of the two opposing sides in this case-the Muslims which had deserted the party after the demolition and upper cast Hindus which traditionally supported the cause of the temple. In a sense everyone wants to avoid the verdict to prevent any communal disharmony to resurface.

A majority of average Indians today are of the opinion that the verdict really doesn’t matter now. India has moved on and there are more important issues that matter rather then a mosque or temple. Faith is a matter of trust in an idea. So the response of an average Indian irrespective of the religion after the verdict is something that will shape our faith in the idea of secularism. Majority of Hindus in India are secular in their thoughts and this has been proven by the previous few general elections where they did not vote for the right wing parties like the BJP which fought elections on the Hindutva plank. It has always been politicians (even in this Ayodhya issue) that have used religion to create disharmony by mixing politics with religion. But time and again post 1992, the secular faith of Indians have stood out against hard-line religious faith. Barring the Gujarat riots of 2002, Hindus & Muslims have stood united even when fundamental groups have targeted places of worship.

The ideal solution for this particular issue would be to construct a hospital at the disputed site which would do service to the society irrespective of religion. But no matter how romantic this idea of secularism may sound, the fact remains that history has been a testimony that even though India has changed from time to time, communal violence has been a constant part of our post independence history. And that is why cynics are worried that the Ayodhya verdict might just put the lid off the volcano and destroy the communal calm & peace that has prevailed for the last one decade. The court verdict on September 24th will not decide the winner between Hindus V/s Muslims but between the ‘Hard line Religious Faith’ V/s the ‘Indian Secular Faith’. And let’s hope that Gods of all religions bat for the latter.

RAHUL & SONIA'S NEW GAMEPLAN

Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s recent political rhetoric to woo farmers and tribals gives a clear idea of Congress’s strategy for the coming four years before the general elections of 2014. Rahul’s staunch support for tribals against Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Group and Sonia’s support towards farmers has set the ball rolling for 2014 elections.

In the 2009 elections, three factors played a key role in bolstering Congress’s strength in the Lok Sabha:

1) The consolidated vote of the minorities, primarily the Muslims, which form 14% of the total votes.

2) The urban middle class voters, who traditionally voted for the BJP, overwhelmingly supported the Congress.


3) The Uttar Pradesh surprise where the party won 21 seats; thanks to the stupendous support it got from the farmers and Muslims. The Congress won 206 seats which were way better than the 2004 tally when they won only 145 seats. But, surprisingly, the UPA is finding it harder to cope with allies even though the ‘Left parties’ have become irrelevant this time around.

With Dr. Manmohan Singh serving his last term as the Prime Minister, the Gandhis realize that the call to make Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister are going to get louder in 2014. Congress observers and insiders say that Rahul is very clear that he wants to head a Congress government without any coalition partners. And now, after regaining the confidence of Muslims and urban voters, the Congress wants to win the support of the remaining crucial vote banks.

Tribals form 8.2% of the total population of India according the 2001 census. Between 1947 and 2000, around 60 million people are estimated to have lost their means of livelihood in the name of development — of which a significant 40 per cent are tribal people. This initiative by the biggest political heavy weight - Rahul Gandhi is bound to get huge support among the tribals.

With over 65% of the population dependent on agriculture, the Congress does realize that farmers are not only a big vote bank but can turn the tide of any election. In the previous election - the farmers’ loan waiver scheme played a huge role in tapping the rural voters. Mamata’s political resurrection in West Bengal; thanks to the land acquisition issue and the farmers protest in Uttar Pradesh have a clear underlying message – take up the farmers’ prime cause and reap electoral benefits.

No wonder then that Rahul and Sonia have their objectives clear: to win the support of these two critical sections which will be instrumental to win a clear majority. But the peril of this strategy is that this could pose a worry for the middle class. In both these instances, it is the development and industrialization issues that will take a back seat and that may send a wrong message to the middle class which has been the biggest beneficiary of the Indian growth story. Though Rahul’s big strength is his popularity among the youth, the middle class gets easily wooed by symbolic gestures. Remember in the last election Dr. Manmohan Singh’s gamble to put his chair on the line for the nuclear deal did wonders for the Congress in urban centers.

The Gandhis are known to keep a close eye on the ground zero and they will try to strike a balance between development and social issues. But even a slight wrong footing could change the equation. It is a dangerous path that the mother-son duo is treading but risk is something that they are used to and this time it will be no different.

CWG: ACID TEST FOR INDIA’S GLOBAL IMAGE

In the last two decades, the perception of India has changed drastically across the world. From being perceived as a poor socialist country, India is now regarded as an economic superpower of this century. India’s position on global issues carries a lot of weight with the western powers wooing India to become its ally.

Major sporting events, on the other hand, are considered as a platform to showcase the strength and progress of a nation. No wonder then that even in the two decades, all the major sporting events like the Olympic Games, FIFA world Cup, Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games have been hosted primarily by developed nations.

All these events are organized by a major city or a metro of a particular country. The superficial perception is based on the infrastructure of the host city which is on display during the course of the event and other key human index parameters are ignored.

For example, the recently held FIFA Football World Cup hosted by South Africa was considered a huge success. Even though South Africa is 129 on the human index list, just five positions ahead of India which is 134. But all the statistics became oblivion when the world cup got over.

But the upcoming Commonwealth Games will be the first major global event organized by India post-liberalization. The last time India organized a major event was the Asian Games in 1982. The Cricket World Cup in 1987 and 1996 were also major sporting events but cannot be considered on the same scale as Asiad as the viewership and the number of nations that participated were too small compared to the Asian games.

In 1982, when New Delhi hosted the Asian Games, India’s economy was nearly $194 billion and was considered an under-developed nation. But still it managed to organize a successful event which bolstered New Delhi’s image. China, which is 92 on the human index list and falls under the ‘medium developed country’ category, showcased itself as a nation with world class urban infrastructure during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The only advantage China had was that there was no free media coverage allowed before the inauguration of the games. So basically no one outside China has a clue about China’s preparations.

The progress of CWG preparations in New Delhi, on the other hand, has not only been reported by the Indian media but also the international media. These games have so far been considered as a golden opportunity for India to reinforce the perception that India will be one of the biggest super powers of this century.

But India’s failure to host these games successfully will not only raise questions on India’s progress on the development front but will also be linked to other human index indicators. Because, remember the world has just been hearing about India’s emergence on the world stage on the basis of media reports and economic indicators. But they haven’t got a chance till now to take have a close look at infrastructure development made by India. The stereotypical perception of India has always been poverty, slums, BPOs, rural India etc., as showcased by a plethora of international documentaries and movies. Even the 2009 Oscar winning movie - Slumdog Millionaire - showed the stereotypical elements of India like poverty, slums, riots and the BPOs.

That perception can be changed by hosting a world class event. Ironically, the success or failures of these games will not have any impact on the real problems of India. It won’t change the lives of the poor farmers’ committing suicide or uplift the 30 odd percent people living below the poverty line. But it will surely boost the Indian pride no matter how superficial it maybe.