Identity and godhood, deceit and double talk

A Ram temple at Ayodhya was never part of the Hindu mythology, though Ram the god had a position in it. The temple was not part of a known history but accounts of a temple demolished by the Muslim conqueror Babur have persisted without definite evidence. The temple has now been built and is part of the contemporary history of India, whether it had ever existed or not.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay tells the story of the temple and describes how the idea was used for political mobilisation and capture of power by Hindutva organisations, including the RSS and the BJP. The book claims, in the title, that it is the definitive book on the Ram Mandir project. This rings true as it is a fact-based and detailed account with explanations and interpretations that throw light on the events that culminated in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and the construction of the temple which was opened for worship in January last year. 

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is most qualified to tell the story because he is a journalist and writer who has tracked the course of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi movement from the 1980s and the rise of Hindutva through the decades. His 1994 book on the demolition of the Babri Masjid was among the first important books on the subject. He has also written a book on the RSS. His biography of Narendra Modi which appeared in 2013 studied the man who would later become the key person in the Hindutva project by “playing a pivotal role in steering the kernel of the idea which was introduced in the early 1980s into an expansive political plank or agenda’’.

The agenda has gone much beyond the construction of the temple to reshaping the country into a Hindu nation. The Ayodhya theme has been expanded and intertwined with many other issues like the role of religion in the state, the role of opposition parties in the country and even the constitutional status of Kashmir. Ayodhya and Ram have been placed at the centre of nationalism and those who do not share the BJP’s view on them are branded as anti-national. Mukhopadhyay has traced the development of this idea through politics in the book. He says: “The Ram temple may cease to occupy much mind space among people. But the new mindset of Indians, framed in the course of the political movement for the temple, will be tough to alter in the years to come.’’

Mukhopadhyay presents the various themes, issues and events in the history of the Ayodhya movement separately and details them. Several chapters in the book dwell on these different aspects. The Ram Temple movement had a lot in it: politics, passions, ideas of identity and godhood, revisionist Hinduism and anti-Muslim sentiments, legality and devotion, history and archaeology, deceit and double talk and much else. It was among the world’s most impactful political movements in recent history and is still sustained in some ways. Mukhopadhyay has contributed to a better understanding of it. The author notes that the Supreme Court judgement, which accepted that the Babri Majid had been illegally demolished, however, awarded the disputed site to the Hindu parties. He also notes the sense of hurt and anguish that it caused not only among Muslims but among others. Several other disputes, like those about the shrines in Varanasi and Mathura, have been reopened later. Since then, Modi has further consolidated his power and combined the roles of the king and the priest in himself. After detailing the events that have changed India in the last many years, Mukhopadhyay asks: “After the Ram temple fulfils the religious aspirations of hundreds of millions, how many in the country, especially those who wield political power, will remain mindful of the sensitivities of those who do not belong to dominate communities?”

Mukhopadhyay brings a lot of sense and insight to the information that he presents. This is important at a time when events are misrepresented, history is rewritten and differing narratives are discouraged and frowned upon. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand contemporary India’s politics and history.