With the Gyanvapi once again emerging from the remnants of memories, the whole issue pertaining to the existence of a temple under the mosque took a visible turn. And this time all those who were associated with the judicial process have a reason to smile and the Hindu population across the country, after regaining the Ram Temple at Ayodhya has a similar reason to rejoice.
The Hindus have been running from pillar to post fighting a judicial battle for almost three decades and the Uttar Pradesh High Court ultimately ordered a scientific survey of the mosque. After the scientific survey, the ASI report was made public on 25 January 2024 with its outcome in line with the expectation of the Hindus. Undoubtedly, as a nation, India is at the crossroads of its past karmas and their inevitable consequences. The wrong of the past that remained fossilized for centuries is being pulled out of the cave of memory.
It is indeed a reality that the truth of the ‘past’, however deep it is deliberately hidden, would come out and pass a cynically irritable grin on the ‘present’, seeking reasons for its incapability to address the ruthlessness with which it was buried. Something like the same is evidently visible in the case of Gyanvapi. This was the case of many religious monuments across India, those centres of faith and reverence being made to undergo the wrath of medieval brutality; pulled down and crushed and annihilated forever.
For Gyanvapi, the discovery of the Linga and the situation in which it was made to survive in the controversial mosque complex for decades had been a saddening episode. With the Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya, the Hindu side is once again with enthusiasm mounting high and deeply convinced to set this part of the ancient temple of Kashi free from captivity. Indubitably, judicial process is the best way through which a democracy can solve conflicting issues. Both sides need to maintain restraint and concede to the judicial process.
The ASI report unquestioningly proves the religious nature of the place, which according to the report was a temple with identifiable parts of the structure being used for the mosque construction and also some parts buried under it. The Hindus were firmly convinced and knew the status of the mosque well before the country’s Independence.
They believe that a religious structure possessing the nature of a Hindu temple well before the time of independence would not principally come under the Places of Worship Act and therefore it would not strategically devalue the claim made by them. It is disturbing for a believer of Lord Shiva to see him concealed in a well, probably in an ablution tank. This indeed has the power to rake up anger especially when the opposite side justifies, calling it a fountain. The secular ethos of the country is existent in India irrespective of its religious minority aggressively holding a detrimental view about the place.
Though the local court allowed the Hindus to offer prayers in the shrine, the dispute between the two communities can be concluded only through a long judicial journey. Starting from Somnath to Ayodhya, the resurrection of ancient Hindu monuments has predictably impacted the political climate in the country. This time Ayodhya and Gyanvapi would appear in our political discourses and religious outcries as heat for the national election has already shot up.
The medieval history of India is a wholesome approval for the uncivilised and horrendous brutality with which our cultural mansions were destroyed. Numerous worship places of the Hindus were toppled and buried and the sentiments are high when someone sees his deity being thrown in an ablution tank. This is potentially capable of raking rage among the non-political elite in the country too. Only a judicial process can heal the volatility in the air. But we need to appreciate the silence and contentment with which the entire issue is so far being debated and brought under judicial surveillance.
A Hindu, with much of his spiritual inclination, gets pained to see the discovery of the debris of his cultural monuments and temples, from under the worship places occupied by a different religion and it gives enough reason for him to dig out the truth. Beyond politics, Gyanvapi demands a genuine solution that a large number of people aspire to experience. Cynics will suspect that a political undercurrent is deliberately active while the issue of the Gyanvapi resurfaces with the court pronouncing a supportive decision to resume rituals. But the Hindus were aware of the fact that three religious places, all three in Uttar Pradesh had a genuine reason to spring back to life.
For them, Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura are not only mere temples broken by the Islamic invasion but two among the three are believed to be the birthplaces of their two profound god incarnate personalities, Lord Rama and Krishna. Kashi is the abode of Lord Shiva and the trinity occupies a major part of their spiritual imagination.
The demolition of the temple by Aurangzeb in 1669 and the remnants of it including the shivling and the remorseful Nandi, the bull, would impact the course of Indian politics. The growing concern of volatility needs to be genuinely addressed. But history takes its own course to revive and bounce from where it was buried. A long battle to reclaim lost spiritual centres by the Hindus should also be appreciated while their genuine patience is deeply focused on a peaceful deal. Invasion to the effect of systematic destruction of the temples was deliberately made to disappear from the memory of generations.
And to the present day, forceful invasions into the Hindu shrines by governments in various states can be seen, indubitably eying to grab their wealth. The society is turned brutally mute and fragile while governments invade the privacy of believers. Temples administered by local devotees in various parts of Kerala were forcefully captured by the state government recently with an evil intent to seize their revenue. Despite the opposition ranging from all sections of the believers, the state government was audacious to break into selected temples and forcefully bring them under its control. But most of the national media remained silent on what they think is genuine with the Hindu majority in a secular democratic republic.
The historical wrong by the invaders is deliberately painted to be excusable by the liberals at the present context, but nobody, not even the intellectuals raise their voice against the arrogant administrative invasion of Hindu temples by the governments. Imagine an attempt of the same type being carried out on any minority community in India. The discontent and unrest and the secular liberal hubbub would be heard beyond the boundaries of the country.
India, which is the oldest living civilization, is measuring its own elements of culture by the tools of constitution that it has hastily framed and to douse questions on the destruction of its cultural identity, the same constitutional excuses are being used. Those who try to justify their stand against the demand made by the Hindus are gleefully hiding behind the Places of Worship Act today while forcing the government to act on the efficacy of the act.
They were bad-mouthing against the government when it acted on the triple talaq and many other issues that haunted our societies. They praise the law of the land when it benefits them and denounce it when it does not. The Hindus had to fight a long legal battle to get their holiest worship place Ayodhya back. I think cries for other disputed sites couldn’t have been louder as it is today, if the Muslim community was generous enough to let the Ayodhya dispute settle outside the court, amicably permitting the Hindu side to build a temple on their holy site. Lengthy is the judicial process in the country but the confidence it gives to the parties to take the disputes to the judiciary is remarkable.
And Muslims, with no intention to stop their claim on important spiritual places dedicated to the major deities of Hindus in Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi; are determined to keep the political heat at its flashpoint. Among the many disputed sites, the Muslims should have been altruistic, allowing the Hindus to worship in these places, which they believe are the most sacred.
Such a situation would have reduced the animosity between both the communities. Absence of an inclusive commitment would force the ‘truth’ of the past out from the dungeons of notoriety and the power of time would be the sole witness. It would keep shrieking at the world for deliverance again and again. The dispute is undoubtedly caught between politics and polarisation. But the impact of this tussle holds undeniable power to mount challenges.
M.R.Lalu
