22 Jan — Piety or Politics
“Where were you on Jan 22 2024 ” —A question that will be asked a few years from now. Even if you were living under a rock, you would know that, I am referring to the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. While sociologists and political observers will have a lot to study and report on this topic, I have a few observations to share as a citizen.
In the run-up to the event, street corners, Resident Welfare associations, other small organisations of people announced their plans for the day with full gusto. The ground swell of support was unprecedented, the excitement in interested quarters palpable. There was nothing in my memory that matched up to this frenzy – not an India- Pakistan cricket match or a govt event . To try to understand this better ,I undertook a small side project of collecting these event announcements across the country with the help of some friends. Needless to say- song and dance are interwoven into every event. While Bhajan Sandhyas formed a part of most programmes, some unusual additions were a “ramp walk’ by children in Ramayana characters. (I would’ve picked the role of Kumbhakarna- win without stepping out of home !) There was one other which had a “shraddhanjali for karsevaks”-(let that sink in) i,e- homage to people who helped raze the mosque to the ground.
In the frenzy of the event,I had a few questions running in my mind - What does all this mean for us as part of residential communities from a governance perspective ? What does it mean for people who dissent? What does it mean for society in general?
From an apartment governance perspective, this event threw up some unique questions. Most apartments answered it in a way that reflects majoritarianism and little regard for first principles of governance, leave alone being sensitive to dissenting opinions or minorities . In the few apartments that had some discussion, the Managing Committees were struggling to implement or even frame rules around this. The questions that needed answering were: Is this a religious event or is it political? Should it be a private event or should the RWA sponsor it from common funds? If it is a private event, should the same rules of restricted numbers in closed spaces, rents etc be applied? If it is an RWA sponsored event, will the Association then sponsor other politico-religious events in the future? The Committees themselves are comprised of people who represent different views to some extent and therefore the biases were reflected in their decisions.
The chief question that needed answering was — is this a religious event?
If you ignored the messages about being anti-hindu or the obtuse references to your education on account of your opposition to celebrations around temple, there were some good faith arguments, the chief of them being- “we celebrate all religious and cultural festivals… why can’t we do this too” and other well meaning people actually agree to this.
And so the debates went about whether the saffron flag was a religious one and why can’t they be flown if you can allow other religious insignia like Christmas trees?! ( yes, the choice of that comparison was deliberate by the ones who made it)
But was it really only a religious event?
No. Even if you leave the violent history of the temple out of the picture, at the highest level, this event was officiated by the Prime Minister who is the political representative of the people. A large part of the political establishment seemed to be AWOL from whatever they’re supposed to be doing and focussing their energies on this event .The lines between the political and the religious have not just blurred, they have fused. Therefore the politics of this cannot be wished away and I would categorise it as a political event draped in religious hues . Also, for an event to be religious/cultural shouldn’t there be some historical precedence?
We have seen religious mobilisation for political causes in the past. Tilak is believed to have started the Ganesh utsav for the independence movement ?What’s wrong with this? Well, false equivalence. All other such movements did not have their roots in division and violence. They all had objectives of inclusion. This one clearly doesn’t and if you saw the videos of people dancing in front of mosques you’ll know what this was about .
What about speaking out on a public forum ? A few of us were uncomfortable with this event at this scale replete with political insignia of flags, replicas of the temples and we voiced our concerns . But the realisation soon was that we like to believe that our apartment complexes are diverse spaces representative of all faiths and customs. But in reality we are only diverse linguistically. This is still a largely upper class, upper caste Hindu society that carries the biases that pervades the larger discourse. Had we not lived in such ghettoes maybe we would’ve had more debate and discussion. But then, when just refusing to be part of the event can earn you a title of “anti-hindu”, do safe spaces for the real minorities actually exist ?
When the larger message seems to be to fall in line with the majority sentiments, does it make sense to even raise a question. From “you’re fighting a losing battle” to “nobody is going to listen” to “this is a sensitive topic, be careful” -I’ve heard it all. What should we do? There really is no choice- we have to continue to speak up. We may not win the battle but the voice must be recorded for posterity. Speaking up is not just to present our views on a topic but also a way to acknowledge our own privilege and to show solidarity with the people who will feel uncomfortable in a situation like this. In our small community, a negotiated settlement was arrived at about the whole event, to some extent, because one person had the courage to ask for the flag to be removed and then a few of us spoke up, much against a majority. If your arguments are based on principles, there is every hope that you will be heard even if you don’t get everything you ask for. Not-so-pro tip: it always helps to talk in terms of specific governance issues rather than personal or high flown philosophy . Most people’s understanding of the issue stopped at “this is what the majority wants . So it’s fine” .
So everything futile, you say? No! As the journalist Ravish Kumar says “ Not all battles are fought for victory. Some are fought to tell the world that someone was there on the battlefield”.
And always remember, there is a silent group of people who are processing all the noise. While they may not be vociferous in their support, they will cheer you in the background. The few encouraging messages I got on this was heartening, to say the least. To be sure, we won a few small battles but lost the war. The event went ahead with the largest ever attendance for any event till now!
Finally, what does it mean for society in general? Fraternity- the bonds that holds a society are fraying if not completely torn. Insinuating tones and whataboutery have become defining features of our interactions leading to a complete breakdown of communication from all sides. Why should it matter ? Even from a narrow consequentialist approach, any material gains we make on the economic sense will be lost if we lose the bridging capital between communities. Fraternity is largely in the ambit of society and the onus lies with all of us. So what can we as citizens do in this regard? Voice your opinion, engage with differing opinions and practice empathy .
It’s a strange coincidence that we’re celebrating Republic Day in the same week as the temple opening. Most people don’t see the contradiction- but there’s nothing more stark- One- where the majority community will actually celebrate a criminal act of razing a mosque down and another where we commit to values of liberty, equality and fraternity. The need for education on Constitutional values just got more urgent with this incident .
Well, for now, it will feel like it is futile to resist the tsunami we’re being washed away by. If the question asked at the beginning were to be changed to “ where did you stand on the celebrations over the temple” in a few years from now, I hope we find ourselves on the right side of history.
