Ram Janmabhoomi/Babri-Masjid- The Unending Enigma of Ayodhya

The Globe Theater in London might be famous for Shakespeare’s plays, but it can never surpass the Babri-Masjid Ram Janmabhoomi drama. The case started getting its eyeballs when the mosque was demolished on December 6 1992. And since then it took a dark turn bringing in violence in the heroic scene. Later on a riot ensued, killing nearly 2000 people across the country. But that will not be the end of it. The successors of these riots continued their battle into courts, until the court gave a judgment of division of the land into 3 parts in 2010.

But still the lure of ultimate victory made the parties to disagree. The Jain and Buddhist sects also joined the fight claiming their cultural history on the land and that brought new parties into the bi-party dispute. The enigma still continues to haunt people’s dreams in Ayodhya.

But the Ayodhya issue is not something that has ever remained calm. It was tumultuous then as it is now. The difference lies in that the British were just diplomatic in their approach and much better in suppression of conflict. There have been various accounts of the mosque been built on earlier structures of temples. Some reports and historical records suggest the existence of a Hindu temple before 18^th century. Some claim that there was Jain temple built before 11^th century. Other reports also state a Buddhist vihara existed at that place once. But these claims are all substantiated by equally compelling reports. How can all claims be true? 

But the most important coincidence is that this looks exactly like the problem with the city of Jerusalem and how it is divided between various claims. Some people might say that since the Jerusalem dispute has not been resolved, how can Ayodhya dispute be resolved? And now let us start dating exactly when this dispute had begun. Possibly it might be the 16^th century or 10^th century. And this makes it about 500 to 1000 years old. And we claim that we are one of the oldest civilizations on the planet of the earth. Why then did the knowledge of so many years not help us in resolving this issue? Entire generations lost just so that people can have their ego sated and violence committed.

This is not a new scene in the Indian scenario, where anything can be turned into a business. Be it politics, religion, science or archeology. These themes have always been used to drive the unsuspecting public into mobs, while the owners of such propaganda sit watching the drama unfold somewhere else. Just a simple non-cooperation from the people can solve this issue. The people must not show interest even in the minutest way possible in any development over this issue. The case would then be solved within no time.

But this scheme would also require the media and the politicians to stop raking up the issue for publicity and political stints. Or else Ayodhya will forever be remembered as the place of perennial battle like the wall of Jerusalem. On the brighter side this does bring publicity to the place as such and brings tourists from all over the world. Well won’t that be a business everyone is interested in. Local traders and traditional artisans can try their luck at making a fortune during festivals.