[BJP News] Footprints in earthly paradise

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>[bJP News] Footprints in earthly paradise

>Wed, 23 Apr 2003 09:41:30 -0700 (PDT)

>

>Title: Footprints in earthly paradise

>Author: Sandhya Jain

>Publication: The Pioneer

>April 15, 2003

>

>"But soon a wonder came to light,

>

>That showed the rogues they lied:

>

>The man recovered from the bite,

>

>The dog it was that died."

>

>-Elegy, Oliver Goldsmith

>

>

>

>Either by instinct or consensus, India's uniquely secular national press

>simply ignored the recent discovery of a broken pillar with a lotus

>carving at the site of the erstwhile Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Such

>negation cannot, however, diminish the significance of the finding. As

>senior Government administrator RM Srivastava observed, "The finding of a

>pillar and a multi-layered flooring suggests there exists a permanent

>structure beneath the soil. At this point we can only say that remains of

>a permanent structure lay buried in the soil. It could be anything - a

>temple, a mosque or even a kitchen structure" (Associated Press, April 1,

>2003).

>

>

>

>A mosque is simply untenable. Even die-hard Islamists have not claimed

>that a mosque existed at the site prior to the arrival of Babar's general,

>Mir Baqi, who was appointed Governor of Ayodhya. What is more, no medieval

>mosque has ever incorporated sacred and popular Hindu motifs in its

>decorative patterns, unless it was built by appropriating the materials of

>ransacked temples. In the case of the Babri Masjid, it may be pointed out

>that Muslim claimants to the site have always held that the mosque was

>built on terra nullus (vacant land).

>

>

>

>Moreover, the lotus is no ordinary motif, but is sacred to the entire

>autochthonous religious-spiritual spectrum of India. In art, Hindu gods

>and goddesses, Jain Tirthankaras, Gautama Buddha and the Bodhisattvas are

>frequently depicted as seated on lotus thrones. The gods are also

>described as having lotus eyes, lotus hands, lotus feet. In no other

>religious tradition does it occupy such exalted status, and its widespread

>use in native Indian decorative art in no way negates its sacred

>character.

>

>

>

>A kitchen structure is reminiscent of the fabled Sita ki rasoi. It is

>possible that such a structure could have a carved pillar with a lotus,

>since the last extant temple at that site is said to have been renovated

>in the reign of a Gahadavala king. In the finding of a temple building,

>however, it would simply be synonymous with Sri Rama, Prince of Ayodhya.

>

>

>

>It is, however, still premature to rush to conclusions, and officials have

>emphasised the need for caution. Yet, if one thing is already clear at

>this stage, it is that the findings are unlikely to end the furious debate

>over the site's original status, as Muslim intellectuals have taken the

>path of dogged resistance to its return to the devotees of Sri Rama. This

>can be seen in the petition seeking a stay on the excavation of the site;

>the bizarre demand for inclusion of an equal number of Muslim labourers in

>the dig; the insistence on more Muslim observers and supervisors; and the

>sustained attempt to negate the possible findings.

>

>

>

>In the wake of the Allahabad High Court's decision to order excavation of

>the site, Muslim intellectuals and their fellow travellers have avoided

>all reference to Mr Syed Shahabuddin's promise that, if it is proved that

>the Babri Masjid was built after demolishing the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir,

>Muslims would return the land to the Hindu community in conformity with

>the Shariat.

>

>

>

>Indeed, these assurances inspired the Chandra Shekhar Government to bring

>the Babri Masjid Action Committee and Vishwa Hindu Parishad to the

>negotiating table. But this pioneering attempt to broker a peaceful

>settlement failed because the Muslim participants took fright when faced

>with credible evidence in the form of Mughal revenue records that list the

>site as Masjid-i-Janmasthan (masjid of the birthplace, which could hardly

>refer to Babar or Mir Baqi). Egged on by secular friends, they deserted

>the talks and let a festering sore linger.

>

>

>

>Eminent historian Irfan Habib has signalled the Muslim determination not

>to settle the dispute honourably, by claiming that the excavations are a

>"post facto rationalisation of what was done on December 6, 1992" (Indian

>Express, March 12, 2003). Habib claims that archaeological finds are open

>to several interpretations. But what is germane in the current dispute is

>only whether or not a temple existed at the site prior to the erection of

>the Babri mosque. As Ayodhya has from time immemorial been associated with

>the story of Sri Rama, this would be regarded as convincing evidence by

>all fair-minded persons.

>

>

>

>In this context, one cannot but be suspicious of the motivations of

>obscure bodies like the Jain Samata Vahini, the Buddha Education

>Foundation and the Lord Buddha Club, which have suddenly staked claim to

>the site on behalf of their respective communities. One can readily

>believe that Gautama Buddha and the Jain Tirthankara(s) visited Ayodhya on

>account of its established reputation as a holy city, and that viharas

>sprang up there. This would be consistent with the native tradition of

>different religious streams commingling and peacefully coexisting at

>sacred sites.

>

>

>

>Yet it would be impossible to maintain that Ayodhya enjoys the status of

>Bodh Gaya, Sarnath or Kusinagar in the Buddhist tradition, or of Pava in

>Jaina lore. Even within the Hindu tradition, it belongs exclusively to Sri

>Rama, just as Dwarka belongs to Krishna. That is why the eminent religious

>leaders and secular eminences of the Jain and Buddhist traditions have

>held their peace. The puny midgets claiming to speak on behalf of these

>two great communities would be well advised to go back to the darkness

>from whence they have come. Some Hindu friends feel that these

>organisations are 'fronts' set up to confuse the picture and delay the

>recovery of the janmabhoomi. While their anxiety is understandable, I have

>no doubt the court will see through these late-blooming bleeding-hearts

>and dismiss their suits without much ado.

>

>

>

>Of deeper concern is the refusal of the Muslim community to respect the

>fact that civilisational India has shed the weakness and defensiveness of

>the past millennium, and is on an irreversible journey of self-renewal and

>self-affirmation. Muslim intellectuals often accuse Hindus of falsely

>identifying the community with the atrocities committed by medieval

>invaders. Yet they scrupulously refuse to distance themselves from these

>atrocities, and seek to perpetuate the wrongs of the past in the name of

>minority rights. In Ayodhya, for instance, denial of the logic of the

>findings is nothing but a determination to perpetuate the Hindu memory of

>the demolition and prolong the Hindu sense of humiliation.

>

>

>

>Muslim intellectuals are also shifting the terms of the debate by raising

>fears that excavations may be demanded at other sites, particularly the

>Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in

>Varanasi. This is too clever by half. In Kashi, one has only to walk

>around the Gyanvapi Mosque to see the vandalised temple that was

>deliberately retained as part of the mosque walls to demean the Hindu

>community at its most sacred site. As for Mathura, an agreement in the

>mid-1960s conceded the return of the site to the Hindu community after the

>natural decay of the mosque. It reflects poorly on the Muslim leadership

>that it has not adhered to the promise not to repair the structure and

>artificially prolong its life. Hindus have shown phenomenal fortitude. The

>violation of their sacred spaces must cease without further delay.

>

>

>

 

 

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