By Sadiq Zafar for TwoCircles.net,
When elections are around, politics in Uttar Pradesh starts revolving around communal issues and Ram Mandir Babri Mosque debate erupts like a flaring inferno. Society gets polarized easily and in that atmosphere of hate if we look at the Ram Mandir movement we can conclude that the state has seen the summit of communalism during the movement when each vote was casted in the name of Ram, a Hindu deity and the ruler of Ayodhya as per the mythology.
On December 6,1992 an ideology invaded the peaceful city of Ayodhya and filled the air with hate, enough to distinguish humans on the religious lines. A historical monument was turned into ruins with lakhs chanting ‘Praise to God’ slogan. Recently, similar incident happened in Paris, when some terrorists attacked innocents and killed people shouting the similar ‘Praise to God’ slogan. Now, does God really need himself to be praised by such mindsets who are themselves a blot on humanity?? Demolition of a structure in the name of God in an independent democratic nation was one of the saddest events which tattered the social and communal fabric of a diverse nation. And this was followed by arson, killings, looting and riots across the nation.
A man calls his protests peaceful and says he didn’t ask people to bulldoze the structure, but it is evident that this peaceful protest took many lives in the name of religion. National political representation was busy making drafts for liberalization, globalization and privatization policies and didn’t take any action to save the structure, by the way in politics not to take any action is also a decision. It is evident that politics has taken away smiles from many families. Line drawn on the basis of religious belief may give escalations to few but weakens the roots of a society, shrinks interactive spaces, minimalizes creative ability, limits growth and affects communities.
Just a day, and the history of civilizations was turned into ruins, crumbling and decaying. Since then, the divided society never sat together to stitch that torn fabric and many succeeded in their attempt to see this division and see themselves in the power corridors of the nation. Whether it is a black day or not, that can be argued but yes it can never be called as a day of victory.
( Sadiq Zafar is the author of book Sustainable Development of Yamuna Floodplain, Delhi)