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Vijaya Pushkarna
Vijaya Pushkarna

COVER STORY

In the name of God

22-Pillars Work in progress: Pillars being readied at Karsevakpuram for the Ram mandir | Aayush Goel

In December, the Supreme Court begins the final hearing of the Ayodhya case. With less than two years left for the Modi government, the idea of building a new temple is gathering momentum and the UP government’s plan to build a 100m tall Ram statue could well be a part of the BJP’s strategy to harness the political appeal of the Ramjanmabhoomi issue in the upcoming election season

  • After 40 years in district courts, 20 in the High Court, and seven so far in the Supreme Court, the legal fight for the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri mosque site is taking a new turn with the idea of building a new temple gathering momentum.

  • There are clear indications that the government is under pressure to show some progress regarding the temple before 2019.

Haji Mehboob Ahmad felt relieved when the Supreme Court on April 19 reinstated criminal conspiracy charges against BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and 19 others in the Babri mosque demolition case. Not that he had anything personal against the original rath yatri and his colleagues. In 2015, Ahmad had approached the Supreme Court against an order of the Allahabad High Court, which upheld a 2001 trial court decision dropping conspiracy charges against Advani and others. He was worried that with the BJP in power, the case against its senior leaders would be diluted. Moreover, he felt there was an impatience among certain sections of society to see that the temple was built at the disputed site even as the matter was before the Supreme Court. Ahmad said his faith in judiciary was “further reinforced” by the Supreme Court order to reinstate the conspiracy charges.

Around the same time, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy approached the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing on resolving the Ramjanmabhoomi dispute. On September 30, 2010, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had ruled in favour of a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acre site in Ayodhya among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla, the infant deity of the disputed temple. The Supreme Court, however, stayed the High Court's order on May 9, 2011 and directed the parties concerned to maintain status quo.

After Swamy's intervention, the then chief justice of India, J.S. Khehar, suggested a negotiated settlement and even volunteered to play mediator. On August 11, the court ordered that the final hearing of the case would begin on December 5. A special bench headed by Justices Dipak Misra (who became chief justice on August 28), Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer asked the contesting parties to furnish English translations of the relevant documents—most documents are in Hindi and Urdu, but some are in Sanskrit, Persian, Pali and Arabic—on December 5 to start daily hearings. The bench said no adjournments would be permitted and asked for strict adherence to the time frame.

On August 8, just three days before the Supreme Court decided to fast track the hearings, the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board, which is not a party to the case, filed a 30-page affidavit before the apex court saying it alone was entitled to negotiate and arrive at a peaceful settlement with other stakeholders in the issue. “To bring quietus, the masjid can be located in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the most revered place of birth of Maryada Purushottam Sri Ram,” said the affidavit. Since then, Wasim Rizvi, chairman of the board, has been trying to sell the “compromise formula”, meeting sants and sadhus and other prominent stakeholders like Subramanian Swamy. Interestingly, the Shia board also has a BJP member, who has reportedly promised huge funds for building the temple. This has coloured the move of the board as being at once reconciliatory as well as divisive.

After 40 years in district courts, 20 in the High Court, and seven so far in the Supreme Court, the legal fight for the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri mosque site is taking a new turn with the idea of building a new temple gathering momentum. The restlessness to see the temple built is growing also because the Narendra Modi government has less than two years left to complete its term. As far as party workers and supporters are concerned, the BJP promised that it would build the temple, the party has the numbers in Parliament and, above all, it has Modi and Amit Shah at the helm. However, the persisting economic downturn accentuated by demonetisation and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax have led to unusual outbursts of dissent from within the BJP; a reinvigorated Congress and the controversy about the trading company of BJP president Amit Shah's son seem to have put the Modi government on the defensive for the first time since it took charge three years ago.

Ayodhya could well be the emotive issue for the government to regain the initiative. On October 10, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh announced its plan to build a statue of Lord Ram on the banks of the Sarayu in Ayodhya. The construction of the 100-metre-high statue is expected to begin upon receiving the clearance of the National Green Tribunal. The BJP hopes the move will add momentum to its campaign to build the temple in Ayodhya, one of the “core issues” of the party.

In its manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had promised to explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate the construction of the temple. In the manifesto for the UP assembly elections held early this year, the party had reiterated the promise. On July 31, winding up his three-day tour of Uttar Pradesh, Shah said the temple was very much on the BJP's agenda. “A grand temple will be built, and the way for this will be through talks, mutual settlement or through a court verdict,” he said.

After taking charge as chief minister, Adityanath has visited Ayodhya thrice, so far. “We are awaiting the court's decision, they are hearing it on a regular basis,” is what he says. The UP government is planning a grand Diwali celebration in Ayodhya, and Adityanath is expected to lead the festivities. The chief minister has approved an international Ramayan conclave in Ayodhya in January. There are also reports about the government launching projects worth Rs 134 crore at the Ram Katha Park in Ayodhya to coincide with the Diwali celebrations.

Sheetla Singh, owner-editor of the popular Faizabad-based daily Janmorcha, said the Ram temple could be a big issue in 2019 although Modi did not raise the issue in 2014. Sheetla said Modi had not mentioned it even after the elections, preferring to focus on the problems of the youth and development, instead of hindutva. “Modi is not concerned with the Ram temple,” he said. “He sharpens the divide between the two communities, and the discourse is rashtravad [nationalism], rashtragaan [national anthem], rashtriyata [nationality], bharatiyata [Indianness], katarpan [fanaticism] to get votes. Now UP has a BJP government, and madrassas in the state are required to prove their nationalism by videographing their Independence Day celebrations.”

24-Yogi-Adityanath Leading from the front: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath performs prayers on the banks of the Sarayu in Ayodhya | Reuters

Haji Ahmad said the fact that Modi, Shah or Adityanath were not seen doing anything proactively to expedite the temple construction meant nothing. “Whatever the BJP manifesto may say, what they tell the public at rallies is, 'We have to build the temple, so vote for the BJP'. They twist their words and talk, but people won't be fooled in 2019. Everyone will raise the temple issue in the Lok Sabha polls, but Ram is unlikely to help them.” He said Modi was likely to face a lot of pressure as the BJP had promised to build the temple. “All the sadhus and mahants want the temple. But when the case is in the Supreme Court, what can Modi or anyone else do?”

People who want to build the temple quickly offer several explanations, including 'Modiji can, if he wants to' to 'Why not an out-of-court settlement now' to 'He can enact a law in Parliament and build it the way Somnath was'. But Triloknath Pandey, appointed by the court to represent the forever minor Ram Lalla as his 'next friend' [a person who appears in court in place of another who is not competent to do so], said there were as many as 27 parties to the case and none of those options were possible. The Somnath case, Pandey said, had never reached the Supreme Court. “The time for an out-of-court settlement is long over. The government cannot do anything to expedite the construction, only the court can,” he said.

Pandey has spent a lot of time and energy on the case. But he said he would not be able to say whether the case would be settled by 2019, or whether some part of the temple would be built by then. “It is an issue involving two communities, one wants the temple and the other does not.” He is surprised by the Supreme Court's demand for translation of the documents. “We have a truckload of documents, which we took to the Allahabad High Court. That judgment [in which the land was divided among the three main parties] is all of 10,000 pages. In that order, the honourable justices have included relevant quotes in Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, Sanskrit, etc, along with their English translations.”

There are, however, clear indications that the government is under pressure to show some progress regarding the temple before 2019. Sharad Sharma, the Vishva Hindu Parishad spokesperson at Karsevakpuram, said the santsamaj wanted the temple as soon as possible. “They say the matter has been in the courts for 67 years and even though everything has been in our favour, we are still stuck,” said Sharma. Swami Vidya Chaitanya Maharaj, who heads the Nardanand Ashram in Sitapur, said after meeting Adityanath that he was confident that the construction of the temple would begin well before 2019. “The sadhus are all waiting to see the temple,” he told the chief minister.

Not just them. The entire economy of Ayodhya seems to be hanging on to the hopes of the promised temple. Prakash Ram, whose small dhaba is chock-a-block with pilgrims, is hoping for more visitors. “If the temple is built as planned, we will have a lot more pilgrims,” said Ram. “The people of not just Ayodhya and UP, but even outsiders will get economic opportunities and blessings. So, we expect the BJP to build it, either in the name of development or as a matter of faith.”

Can the Modi government expect a verdict from the Supreme Court, which will satisfy its key support groups? Sheetla Singh said the apex court had the right to adjudicate, but not the discretion to exercise.

Ahmad said he favoured an out-of-court settlement because the court proceedings would lead to a victory for the Muslim groups. “If it has to be through the court, they will lose and we will win. The court wants evidence, which is with us. All the land in this area belonged to Muslims. How could Ram Lalla have been born here? But, in an out-of-court settlement, we don't look at this,” said Ahmad. “The problem is whom do we talk to for an out-of-court settlement? There are so many parties from the Hindu side. We cannot talk to everyone walking on the road. Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath are tall leaders, wise people. They should appoint a committee or a person with whom we can talk.”

However, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently told an audience of diplomats that his organisation would accept the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya, making it clear that the RSS was not looking at any compromise or settlement at this stage. The Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Zafaryab Jilani, too, believes that the matter has to be settled by the court.

Whether or not any structure of the Ram temple will be visible at the disputed site by then, the issue will be hot during the Lok Sabha elections. While restoring the criminal conspiracy charges against Advani and his colleagues, the Supreme Court ordered daily hearing in the case and set a two-year deadline for the trial to be completed. And, that coincides perfectly with the election schedule.

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