Politicising Ayodhya

As the day of reckoning on the Ayodhya dispute draws near, Sangh Parivar organisations have again begun chanting slogans for a Ram temple on the site, despite the fact that this demand, along with the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, has caused major setbacks in politics in India. While people grappled with this emotive issue, economic policies beneficial only to the corporate sector were implemented and the 'real' issues of the people – poverty, unemployment, the paucity of resources, the agrarian crisis and corruption, for instance – were pushed into the background. The United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) rise to power after the defeat of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2004 general elections was fortunate: with the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), forest rights and the forthcoming Food Security Act, there is at least some semblance of policy-making in favour of the common citizens of this country. Had the NDA continued in power, it is not clear whether the country would have moved beyond the issues of Ram temples and Ram Setu.

Communalism vs democracy
In a sense, the origins of 'terrorism' in India can be traced to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, which was followed by a series of bomb blasts and other incidents of terrorism. The then CM of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh, made a mockery of the commitment given to the Supreme Court to protect the Constitution. An impression was created at the time that 'Islamic' organisations were responsible for all terrorist activities. It was revealed later, however, that Abhinav Bharat, an organisation associated with RSS, was behind terrorist incidents in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty's Dargah in Ajmer and the Samjhauta Express. Moreover, the fact that a host of Muslim youth are languishing in jails all over the country merely on the basis of suspicion while not a single person involved in the Babri Masjid demolition has been apprehended also reflects the 'communalisation' of various governments and administrations.