VIEWPOINT

Ayodhya Mess and A Solution

- Vasant Sathe

Ayodhya (which means no conflict) is today the best example of how a straight forward issue can be made most complicated and confounded. It is a greater pity that the name of Ram, who is an ideal of justice and fair play, should have been so unscrupulously exploited for purely political purpose.

The first basic question is, should we in today’s world rake-up historical happenings for our religious emotions? Should there be finality to existing historical reality, in a constitutionally established democracy, which has proclaimed itself to be secular in its preamble itself?

It is true that historically, many religious places were destroyed by the invaders of different religions. It is also a fact that rulers like Akbar, Jahangir and Shahajahan gave grants for the construction of both temples and mosques, and other religious places.

If the only question were of restoring historical monuments like the Somnath Temple, that would not be a controversial issue. Yet, if the question is of demolition of a religious place of one community against the wishes of the people of that community that becomes all together a different issue which directly brings them in conflict. Even those defining secularism as ‘Sarva Dharma Sam Bhava’ i.e. equal respect for all faiths, also cannot act unilaterally, when the question directly involves the faith of other people.

How is it possible for any one today, to say that Ram Lala or baby Ram, was born exactly at the spot where the Babri Mosque, has been existing for past 400 years?

To this, they answer that, this is a matter of faith and belief and no proof either is required and no court including the Supreme Court can give a verdict on the question of faith! If this ridiculous argument is to be accepted then there will be no place for the Rule of Law in the country and people of different faiths can take law in their own hands and go about destroying not only places of worship but also killing and massacring people in the name of religion and faiths. To this there can be no limit. Today it is said that the birthplace of Ram is a matter of faith, tomorrow, the same argument can be raised about Krishna, Shiva, Parvati and other Gods, and their temples.

However, if the question of the legitimacy of the Babri Mosque was to be decided on the merits of the case, the solution can be legally and even religiously found. Apart from the question of title, which is pending in the Allahabad High Court, the question whether a temple existed at the site, whereafter its destruction, the mosque was built, can easily, conclusively as well as convincingly be decided by factual evidence.

It is already stated by the advocates of the Ram Temple, that evidence in the form of some slab with inscription and some pillars with religious motifs as well as some statues of gods have been found during and after the demolition of the structure called the Babri mosque.

Now, those who have some knowledge of the Holy Quran, the most authoritative book of the followers of Islam, know that there is a specific ban in the Quran to have any idols either in the foundation or precincts of the Mosque. Secondly, if we see Ayat 114 of Sura two Al Bakrah, we find even entering a place of any worship with a view to disturbing it, leave alone destroying it, is prohibited.

It is because of this clear mandate of the Holy Quran, that leaders like Sayyed Shahbuddin, of the Babri Masjid Action Committee had categorically stated more than once, that, if it is established by any factual evidence, that there was a religious place at the site where the Babri mosque was built, he would be the first person to take the hammer and destroy it as it would be a Na-Pak, irreligious structure, specifically prohibited by the Quran and Islam.

Now, that the super structure has been already destroyed it should be the easiest and most eliminatory and logical thing for the Supreme Court, when the large bench examines the entire issue, to appoint a committee of archeologist from the official Archeological Department to excavate the foundation. This can be done under the supervision of authorized representatives of both the Ram Janam Bhoomi Nyas and the VHP on the one hand and the Babri Masjid Action Committee and Muslim Personal Law Board, on the other, to oversee the excavation, to find out if there are any portions of a religious place underneath. It need not be only evidence only of a Ram Temple relics, out of any other religious structure, which is bound to be there by destroying it, Babar had ordered the construction of a mosque. It is common knowledge that the invading Rulers used the very material of the temples that they destroyed to construct their structure as a symbol of their superiority and power.

Thus, there is bound to be ample archeological evidence, that could be found in the foundation, about the existence of

some temple at the site where the Babri Masjid had been constructed.

With such evidence, secured in the presence of the bodies concerned, the parties themselves will be able to settle the dispute amicably out of Court. If evidence about the existence of any temple is found, there is every reason to believe, that the true followers of Islam would then disown the so-called, Mosque, as an un-Islamic structure and then allow the Ram Janam Bhoomi Nyas to construct the temple according to their faith.

In fact, both parties can then approach the secular Government of India to help in construction of an impressive religious complex of all religions existing in India to be constructed in the city of Ayodhya. A city of harmony. The present gimmicks like doing puja and putting up the carved pillars are only the irritants, which only lead to aggravating the relations between the two communities and creating inhuman carnage like Gujarat. Thanks to both the Shankaracharaya of Kanchi and the Supreme Court for putting temporary halt to the madness. What is necessary is to solve the basic issue with concrete evidence, which now is archeologically possible.