Voice that resounds in Hindu hearts

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Voice that resounds in Hindu hearts

>Author: Prafull Goradia

>Publication: The Pioneer

>November 10, 2003

>

>What makes a cancer surgeon owning a nursing home in prosperous

>Ahmedabad go for ardent Hindutva? Why does he take a "do or die" stance

>for the Ram Janmabhoomi at Ayodhya? For a man trained in biology and

>surgery, the mythology of a temple non-existent today might well have

>seemed remote. Is the lure of Hindutva and the faith in Ayodhya much

>greater than the classes or the elite of India suspect? The followers of

>Togadia, almost without exception, are members of the Hindu masses.

>

>The clue might be traceable to the political waxing and waning of

>Ayodhya. The Congress first saw its potential and had the locks of the

>Ram temple opened in 1983. On finding the Muslim reaction strong, the

>party withdrew its further interest, until Rajiv Gandhi performed the

>shilanyas to assuage the Hindu anger against the Muslim Women's Bill.

>But, figuratively speaking, the Congress did not swim the Saryu and seek

>votes on this exploit.

>

>In the meantime, the BJP had been forced by the formation of the Babri

>Masjid Action Committee to espouse the cause of Ram Lalla culminating in

>the legendary Advani Rathyatra. The party's bold and open claim gave it

>more and more Lok Sabha seats until it was eventually crowned with

>power. In the heat and dust of frequent elections as well as the Kargil

>war, who was doing what for Ram Lalla was overlooked. When the Babri

>edifice was demolished, there was no one to claim responsibility for its

>destruction; certainly neither the Congress nor the BJP. Mr PV Narasimha

>Rao was the Prime Minister and Mr Kalyan Singh held the post of UP Chief

>Minister at that time. Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee had gone nowhere near the

>Saryu, to say nothing of crossing it!

>The lure of votes draws all parties and leaders to Ayodhya. But when it

>comes to swimming in the Saryu and submerging oneself in the cause of

>Ram Mandir, the habit of past electioneering beckons them back. The

>minority votebanks, the leftists, the secularists, the intelligentsia,

>the media, et al, distract and dissuade the vote seekers. Most are ready

>to wet their feet but few are willing to plunge into the holy river.

>Except, that is, the Hindu masses, for whom the rebuilding of the mandir

>would signify the resurgence of Mother India.

>

>Mr Praveen Togadia's voice resounds the heartbeats of these masses. On

>the other hand, the minorities, the leftists, the secularists, and even

>the Hindu elite are divided on the melody of this voice. Those who

>cannot question the validity of its music, condemn the words of the

>song. To read Mr Togadia's significance by contrast, be it realised that

>Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, endearingly called Maulana in Mumbai, is the

>opposite pole. Whoever disapproves of Mr Togadia could well end up with

>Mr Yadav.

>

>Many political scientists are unwilling to treat the Gujarat elections

>of a year ago as a barometer of the Hindu mass sentiment. Fair enough.

>What about the national context? Look at what Pakistan's proxy war is

>doing to innocent Indians. Consider what indigenous terrorists are

>perpetrating on the people whether at Godhra or Mumbai, at Akshardham or

>the Raghunath temple. Go beyond and observe West Asia. Islam has been at

>war with Israel and Jews for decades.

>

>Now the Christian civilisation. The 9/11 attack was conceptually not

>unexpected. Mr Bernard Lewis, the most distinguished American scholar of

>Islam, had clearly stated in 1990 that the two religions would soon

>clash. Professor Samuel Huntington had predicted a clash of

>civilisations. Sure enough, Islam is also at war against Christians,

>apart from Jews and Hindus. Dr Togadia personifies the Hindu

>determination to fight in the widespread war. He is a significant

>microcosm of a historical macrocosm.

>

>Dr Togadia also personifies the divide between the Hindu classes and the

>Hindu masses - large sections of the latter have, in their collective

>memory, the dread of foreign invaders. The living evidence of their

>humiliation lies in the desecrated temples. Some of them are buildings,

>as it were, untouched on their exteriors like the Adhai Din ka Jhopda of

>Ajmer, the Bijamandal mosque at Vidisha, the Adina mosque in Pandua

>(West Bengal), the Jami masjid at Etawah as well as Kannauj. A few of

>them still carry their old Hindu names like the Ataladevi masjid at

>Jaunpur, the Bijamandal at Vidisha and the Bhojshala at Dhar.

>

>For the elite, especially those living in metropolitan cities, the

>reminder of these desecrations is unwelcome and probably best forgotten

>for the sake of building up a secular India in line with the Nehruvian

>dream. Little do they realise that for the person living in say Jaunpur,

>Vidisha or Dhar, the mandir-turned-mosque is a continuing disgrace. Dr

>Togadia touches a chord in such people who are many across the country.

>

>

 

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