PM Modi's speech at Ram Temple bhumi pujan: Triumphalist hyperbole

There were two strands in the speech that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made after doing the ‘bhoomipujan’ for the Ram temple in Ayodhya. One was the assertion that the temple should be built on the foundation of mutual love and brotherhood and that Ram is the common thread of unity in diversity in the country. He also acknowledged the various traditions of Ram and Ramayan in the country’s different regions and also mentioned their many versions in other parts of the world. He was also right in stating that Ram embodied India’s culture and its values and that fraternity and friendship should cement the bricks of the temple that is to be built there. These are sentiments and views which are well-accepted and which have defined religious faith and the lives of people for generations in the country.

But there was another, and a contradictory, strand that sought to claim the ownership of Ram, to appropriate his name, image and the popular sentiments associated with him, and to use the entire plan for construction of the temple for political purposes. The Prime Minister tried to elevate the Ramjanmabhoomi movement to the level of the freedom struggle and said August 5 would be as important to the country as August 15. Even the licence for hyperbole would not justify this statement. There is no comparison between the freedom struggle, which was a unifying struggle in which all sections of the country took part, and the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation, which was intended to polarise society and has been divisive. The success of the movement and the construction of the temple does not change that reality. History should not be created or rewritten to suit the politics, and so any equation between the freedom struggle and the temple movement is wholly untenable. It would also be wrong to consider the temple as a symbol of nationalist feelings, because nationalism should not be based on religious icons, institutions and ideas.

Even when the ideas of love, unity and brotherhood were underlined and it was asserted that the temple was for everyone, the triumphalist tone and the assertion of ownership of the campaign and the temple will not be missed. It will also be noted that the ceremony was entirely dominated by those who were associated with the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. Most people in the country did not participate in the movement but they consider Ram important and are devoted to him. Ram and his temple should belong to all of them. For that, the politics around Ram should stop and the real Ram, who unified hearts and lived in all his different versions and traditions, should find his place in the temple.