The real problem in the country is that fascist forces are attempting to
Aryanize
the history and religious beliefs of the country . It is interesting to read
the statement
of the DMK leader Mr. Karunanidhi on the neglect and indifference to Dravidian
history and beliefs in comparison with the Aryan interpretation of history which
commenced with the Aryan invasions of India and the imposition of their
religious
beliefs and the caste system ,which important social reform movements in the
South
fought against, including the enslavement of women by Aryan religious beliefs .
Whether it is a hegemonistic interpretation of the culture of the majority or a
monolithic
interpretation of the culture and beliefs of the minority, both are far from
the reality from
actual conditions on the ground. Sufism was an important religious discourse
an offshoot
of Islam and any attempt by Ulemas to impose any one interpretation of Islam is
similarly
unacceptable as Islam equally has different streams .
The tribal people have their own customs and beliefs, though there is an
attempt to
Aryanize them culturally . Dr. Ambedkar's historic revolt against religious
hegemony
and conversion to Buddhism is well known as he despaired of social and economic
justice .
There are 20,000 Ram Mandirs in ( Ayodhya) present day Faizabad and many
claim
to be the site of the birthplace . Similarly there are many Masjids. In the
country as a whole
it is considered inauspicious to in any way harm the religious structures of
people of any
community .
We must not forget that Mr. L.K.Advani and Mr. Jaswant Singh are both admirers
of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah who used religion for political purposes . Yet Mr. L.K,
Advani
has been regularly elected with the blessings of saffron forces from Gujarat.
Presently both BJP and Congress governments in various states of the Indian
Union use State machinery for the fascist demonization of minorities as an
instrument
of divide and rule to serve the interests of Indian and foreign Capital and
its predatory
assaults on the national budget and the land and livelihood of millions of
working people
even as India's budgetary resources haemorrhage .
Sunil Dutt's son paid a heavy price for the dissent of Sunil Dutt as a
Congress M.P.
against the pogroms in Mumbai , it resulted in the unjust incarceration of his
son as
the Mumbai Pradesh Congress Committee sought to make an example out of Sunil
Dutt in an atmosphere where the family received daily threats .
The anti-minority discourse of two decades in this country, which is the fascist
discourse of financiers was plotted by more than one party along with India 's
Bilderberg Club of financier and corporate sector interests .
We have to recover India's political and social place in the spirit of the
movements led by Jyotiba and Savitri Phule and Dr. Ambedkar when the
upper castes/classes opposed even women's education and re-marriage
and there were vibrant anti upper class /upper caste movements across
the country against religious obscurantism and superstition used to exploit
millions by propagating that they were inferior , unclean and untouchable.
Philosophy yes , culture by all means , fascist religious discourse and any
attempt
to exploit and demonize has no place in the modern India we seek to construct
in the 21st Century .
No individual or political party which resorts to fascist discourse can be
said to act constitutionally ,these are acts not within the constitutional
framework and extra legal . If institutions of the State resort to such acts
they are per se illegal .Indian society is inclusive, not exclusive .
When a woman constable is raped and murdered in a Police
Station this is what the leadership of political parties should
be concerned about , the steady erosion of governance , the
assassination of Police officials , of lawyers of innocent citizens.
Our first loyalty is to the human race all other identities
come after this first loyalty .As being human is a fact of
birth all other identities are imposed by social conditioning.
Niloufer Bhagwat
----- Original Message -----
From: ram puniyani
To: ram puniyani
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 3:35 PM
Subject: [humanrights-movement:3022] Ayodhya Verdict; Commit the crime
andberewarded ISP I October 2010
Commit the Crime and be rewarded: Ayodhya Dispute Verdict
Ram Puniyani
Nation heaved a sigh of relief following the three judges delivering the
verdict on Ayodhya case (30th Sptember 2010). There was no violence anywhere,
something which was feared very much. The day passed off peacefully and the
fear that violence will engulf parts of the country proved to be wrong, thanks
to the maturity shown by large sections of population. As such the judgment was
an exercise of sorts trying to do a balancing act, between all the parties
involved, Ram Lalla Virajman, Nirmohi Akhada and Sunni wakf board. The title of
the land has been divided into three each sharing one part. Also court has
declared since Hindus believe the ‘birth place’ of Lord Ram to be below the
place where the central dome of the mosque stood, that place should be allotted
to Hindus. In response RSS chief in a jubilant mood proclaimed that now the
path for a grand Ram temple has been opened at the site and all the parties
should cooperate in this “national” work.
As Mulayam Singh Yadav has correctly put it, the Muslim community is feeling
betrayed. First their mosque is entered into by miscreants who install the Ram
Lalla idols there. Then in a well orchestrated assault RSS combine demolishes
the Mosque and now the court operates on the RSS theory that Lord Ram was born
at that spot. It seems if matters go the way they are going there is no need
for scientific disciplines of History, Archeology and others as a section of
political force can gradually build up the faith, act upon that and then the
court will legitimize the criminal acts in the name of faith of a section of
society. The law of the land will come to such a pass is beyond the imagination
of those who wish to adhere to the values of freedom movement and the
Constitution of India.
Just to recall RSS combine, more popularly known as Sangh Parivar, picked up
the issue of Ram Temple in Ayodhya in the decade of 1980s and later
orchestrated the faith of section of Hindus that Lord Ram was born precisely at
the spot where the mosque is located. Interestingly the trend of Lord Ram being
regarded as the core deity of Hindu religion came up in the medieval times,
more particularly after Goswami Tulsi Das wrote the story of Lord Ram in the
popular Awadhi language. Till that time Valmiki’s Sanskrit Ramayana was the
major one prevalent in the society and being the language of elite, worship of
Lord Ram was restricted to a section of Hindus. Tulsidas was pulled up by the
Brahmins for his writing the story of Ram in Lok Bhasha, Avadhi, as Brahmins
were supposed to be using Dev Bhasha; Sanskrit only. Tulsi Das was around
thirty years old when it is claimed that the Ram Temple was demolished. The
demolition claim is unlikely to be true as had such a demolition taken place
Tulsidas must have mentioned this in his writings. As such the later
interpretations of Ram have been so different for different people.
One understands that Kings had been ruling for the sake of power and wealth
and victor kings many a times destroyed the defeated king’s holy place to
humiliate the defeated king. The British introduced communal historiography
aiming to pursue the policy of ‘divide and rule’ propagated that Muslim Kings
destroyed Hindu temples to insult Hindu religion. This type of Historiography
spread hatred amongst communities and became the foundation on which the
communal violence started taking place in due course. As such Babri Mosque was
a protected monument, under the custody of Government of India. Government
failed to get the illegally installed Ram Lalla idols removed from the site and
also failed to protect the mosque form the onslaught of RSS combines’ attack on
the mosque in 1992. So de facto, with this judgment the RSS agenda of dividing
the nation along communal lines is being legitimized by ignoring the fact of
installation of idols and by turning a blind eye to the Babri demolition,
coordinated by different wings of RSS combine. The crimes done by this stream
have been richly rewarded by this verdict!
Now RSS and its progeny is taking the line that Muslims should hand over the
land of their share to RSS front, to see that the aspirations of ‘Nation’ are
fulfilled and a grand Ram Temple is built there. It is not only Hindus who
constitute the nation. All the Hindus of the nation do not hold any such belief
about the birth place of Lord Ram. All the Hindus do not want a Ram Temple
there. As such majority of Hindus have kept aloof from this issue, many of them
have looked with horror and disbelief the way the faith of people has been
manipulated to catapult BJP to the seat of political power. Since the issue was
highlighted and brought to the electoral arena; Hindu majority have never voted
for the agenda of Ram temple. No doubt a section of Hindus has been won over to
the Ram temple agenda; the majority of Hindus have not approved it as the
results of elections show. The latest surveys also confirm that it is not an
issue for most of the Hindus, but is an issue only for a handful of Hindus.
Moreover the younger generation does not have anything to do with these types
of identity related issues and that too imposed upon the nation through
criminal means, the crime of installing Ram Lalla idols and the crime of
demolishing the Babri Mosque.
Congress is calling for a negotiated settlement. What can be a negotiated
settlement? One; it has to be based on justice, recognizing the due rights of
each party involved and there has to a spirit of give and take. Do those
calling for compromise will promise that the matters related to equity and
security of Muslim community be granted? The Muslim community has been sliding
down on the scales of social and economic indices. Will Sachar Committee-
Rangnath Misra Committee reports be implemented in right earnest? Will RSS
support such a ‘give’? Will Muslim community be able to live in security
hereafter? India has 13.4% of Muslms in the population. In the communal
violence, more than 80% of victims are Muslims! Will RSS withdraw the ‘Hate
spreading books’ from its Shishu Mandirs? Will its Shakhas stop doing the ‘Hate
Propaganda’ against the minorities?
For a moment one feels like supporting a compromise formula. Sure and that’s
a good thing. One may be willing to talk of give and take, negotiation if the
battered Muslim minority and also Christians are promised equal status as
citizens, the baseless propaganda against them is held back, and the Congress
takes it upon itself to fulfill the promise of Manmohan Singh that Muslim
minorities have the first right to development resources as they have been left
behind due to the social-economic discrimination and due to the politically
motivated violence against them. Will all the guilty of communal violence be
punished? Those behind Delhi anti Sikh massacre, Mumbai violence and Gujarat
violence are roaming with their bloated chests; can they be brought to book
before a negotiated settlement is talked about? In a way can we trust the state
for abiding by the rule of law to protect its citizens before demands of
sacrifice from them are articulated?
One can very well say that the very politics of Communalism is using Ram
Temple issue to violate the Indian Constitution and the amity amongst the
communities. One can appeal to the minority communities to make some sacrifices
but one knows that they will get nothing in return. The way communalism has
seeped into the very vitals of our society and polity it has created situations
where minorities are being treated as ‘second class citizens’. The dominating
‘Religion based nationalism’, the politics of Hindutva with the agenda of Hindu
Rashtra, will not let them live in peace and dignity. For RSS combine the
matters of bread butter and shelter are secondary and imaginary constructs
culled out from mythology form the base of their identity politics, the
politics of Ram Temple, Ram Setu, Cow slaughter ban and what have you. We are
in a catch 22 situation. The communalization of polity and society is so much
that now faith, systematically constructed by a section of political stream is
becoming the basis of law. As noted Film maker Anand Patwardhan pointed out on
the day of Ayodhya verdict, it is ‘Victory of Hindu Sharia: A sad day for
India’. One hopes the younger generation, and all those believing in the Indian
constitution will try to move on from the identity politics, politics which
abuses faith for short cuts to power and paves the way for a sane society
concerned about the human justice, and affirmative action for weaker sections
of society.
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