*THE RAM MANDIR*
Finally, the day dawns!!
The consecration of the Ram Mandir is all set for tomorrow in a dazzling display of pomp, grandeur and circumstance.
For a rational atheist idiot like me, all this simply makes no sense of course—as much as the Saint Peter Basilica being built on the exact spot where St. Peter was martyred, or the Al Aqsa Mosque from where the Prophet rode on a horse upto heaven.
Don't ask me how??
But there is one uncontested fact:
Faith and Religion in all its fervor trumps Reason by a Mile.
A long, long, long Mile.
So, grin and bear it??
There are essentially three lenses through which the Grand Opening of the Ram Mandir can be viewed.
*1. THE EXTREME RIGHT WING VIEW*
This is the problematic view.
For many in the Hindutva fold, this consecration of the Ram Temple is a gloating dagger thrust into the Muslim consciousness and psyche.
Finally, the Mughal invaders (all since deceased) have finally been taught a befitting, stinging lesson.
This is not about the teachings of Lord Ram, or the simple celebration of a temple being consecrated.
It is about having put the Muslim (most of them ordinary, helpless folk with no relation to Akbar or Aurangzeb) in his rightful place.
This hard core fanatic views the Ram Temple as a political weapon.
Religion is a distant secondary.
*2. THE HARD-CORE LEFTIST*
These are the folk aghast at the trajectory of historic events, now most certainly, out of their grasp, their control, and worse, their comprehension.
" Bring the Masjid back" would be their war-cry, if they had the heft or the numbers.
No such luck obviously.
Worse, profound toxic Islamists like Owaisi are the ugliest of the lot.
He bangs hard-core Hindutva for all its regressive ideas, but concelebrates, cherishes and cheers the most vile and horrendous practices of Islam in his own home.
Keep the Muslim proletariat firmly locked up (minds and all) to serve the Islamist bourgeois leadership and clergy.
And the liberal left never vociferously condemns this Sar Tan Se Juda ideology and falls flat on its face between the two two stools.
Was the demolition of the Babri Masjid wrong??
Of course, it was.
Was the belief that the Ram Temple should be built on that same spot as attested by millions of Hindus as an article of faith wrong??
No it wasn't.
Faith is Faith!!
So if, as a political figure, you want to poke at this aspect of Hindu Faith from a public platform, you need to call out the irrational beliefs of every other Faith as well.
*3. THE VAST MAJORITY OF HINDUS*
This is the ocean of ordinary folk that everyone is ignoring, or pretending they do not exist.
Simple, ordinary folk, with not an iota of violence, spite, hatred or rancor in their hearts .
They are just delighted to cling to a belief system that gives them peace and comfort and joy.
And see the temple as a grand culmination of that process.
They are just happy.
They aren't wicked.
And the opposition parties, having boycotted the consecration for whatever reason, must speak to this audience.
There is a world of difference between a Hindu-loving Ram Bhakt,
And a Muslim-hating Ram Bhakt.
The trick is to spot the difference and sift the wheat from the chaff.
The former, I can guarantee, will not support any more acts of violence and chaos to bring down any more disputed mosques in Uttar Pradesh or the country.
For once I agree with Mr Mohan Bhagwat of the RSS, that post-consecration of the Ram Mandir, there must be no more anger and rancor.
Ayodhya must physically and philosophically be “without war".
One hopes that his many ready-for-the-battle followers heed his sage advise.
*POST SCRIPT*
If you are an ordinary citizen of this country, and more so if you are a self- professed Ram Bhakt, you must necessarily be appalled at the charade of Babush and Mauvin and Vishy and the bunch of 40, sweeping temples and performing cleaning acts in a show of faux religiosity.
Broom or no Broom, the BJP government in Goa is the pinnacle of Anti-Ram Rajya.
For this none of us need a Supreme Court verdict!!
*DR. OSCAR REBELLO GOA*