Venu Rajamony
A MYRIAD THOUGHTS and memories flashed through my mind as I watched on television the inauguration of the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 14.
It was in early 2007 that I reached Dubai to serve as India’s consul general. The Hindu temple in Dubai was one of the first places of importance I visited. It was a small, nondescript temple which functioned from 1958 in the first floor of a building that housed shops in the heart of the old city. The building was located right next to the main mosque and the ruler’s court, and it housed a Shiva temple, a Krishna temple and a gurdwara.
Migration of Indians to Dubai can be traced to its days as a trading hub and centre for pearl fishing, much before the discovery of oil and the birth of the UAE as a nation. Sheikh Rashid, father of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (ruler of Dubai and vice president and prime minister of the UAE), was a hero to the Indian community. It was thanks to the welcome extended by him that Indians in Dubai grew in numbers and flourished. I heard many stories of how Sheikh Rashid used to be a regular at Diwali celebrations. Sheikh Rashid embodied secular governance at its best. A telling story was how some conservatives protested the permission granted to the Hindu temple and its location right next to the mosque. They asked him to take back his decision. Sheikh Rashid’s response was that all people are welcome to practise their religion in Dubai and visit a temple or mosque as they please. However, they will all obey the law. Anyone breaking the law will go to jail, irrespective of whether they are Hindu or Muslim. That is why a jail is situated between the mosque and the temple.
The Indian community was grateful for the religious freedom they enjoyed, but was concerned about the lack of space and facilities in overcrowded Bur Dubai, especially with the Indian population continuing to grow rapidly. I recall being invited to the temple on Shivaratri to see the long, snaking lines of devotees and how a small group of volunteers and a handful of policemen would struggle to regulate them. Land for a large temple with sufficient parking was a request repeatedly voiced by the community from much before my time in Dubai. I conveyed the same to the leadership in Dubai and Abu Dhabi many times and so did our ambassadors and visiting leaders from India.
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, senior member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and the UAE’s minister for tolerance, was the most important ally of the Indian community in this effort. It was befitting that Sheikh Nahyan represented the UAE government at the opening of the BAPS Hindu Mandir. Known in the UAE as the “People’s Sheikh” for his friendly and accessible nature, Sheikh Nahyan championed the idea of land for a new temple and recommended the same to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE. It is on the foundation of Sheikh Nahyan’s efforts that Prime Minister Modi built his religious diplomacy and the temple became an important subject of official exchanges.
Sheikh Nahyan is a living example of the UAE’s commitment to religious tolerance and pluralism. He takes great joy in meeting spiritual leaders from all over the world. There is probably no prominent spiritual leader from India who has not been welcomed to his majlis. While Sheikh Nahyan enjoys great love and respect within the country and abroad, India and Indians have always had a special place in his heart.
Religious freedom and pluralism in the UAE owe a lot to Sheikh Zayed of Abu Dhabi, the father of the nation and the founder president who ensured that it was embedded into the social fabric and was made a constitutional guarantee from 1971 when the nation was born. Generous offers of free land have been made to many religious communities. Dubai witnessed the construction of St Mary’s Catholic Church in 1966, Bur Dubai Church in 1975 and the Jumeirah Presbyterian Church in 1979. Today, Dubai has over 80 churches catering to various Christian denominations. Abu Dhabi is home to the Abrahamic Family House, opened last year, which combines a church, a mosque and a synagogue. A spacious Guru Nanak Durbar opened in the Jebel Ali area of Dubai in 2012 and an equally large and beautiful Hindu temple was built next to the gurdwara in 2022. The Shiva mandir and the gurdwara in the old Bur Dubai temple were relocated to the new temple, while the Krishna mandir continues to function in the old location.
Offering land and support for the BAPS Hindu Mandir is yet another important step taken by the UAE to promote inclusivity and religious diversity. President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed deserves accolades for his bold decision to permit the temple to be built in traditional Indian style with sculptures and carvings on the outside. Considering the conservative views that still exist in UAE society and the conflict and polarisation in the world, this is a revolutionary step. It reflects the determination of the leaders to reinforce the message that Islam can coexist with religious diversity and the UAE will continue to strengthen its character as a modern, liberal and progressive state.
BAPS deserves the highest of praise for having raised the resources and built this great stone temple in record time. The temple will not just serve the spiritual needs of the Indian community, but will also act as a cultural landmark and forum for inter-religious discourse. Prime Minister Modi and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed also deserve praise for their personal attention and support for the project which has fulfilled a longstanding dream and need of the Indian community. Since 2015, the two leaders have imbued the relationship with rich personal and political content. Historic ties, geographical proximity, people-to-people contacts and trade and economic relations have always closely bound the two nations and its people.
For the UAE, the BAPS Hindu Mandir represents yet another milestone in a continuous and consistent journey and celebration of pluralism. The UAE’s model of religious tolerance stands as a beacon of hope in a world yearning for end to strife and peaceful coexistence.
―The writer is a former career diplomat who served as consul general of India in Dubai from 2007 to 2010 and is the author of the book, India and the UAE: In Celebration of a Legendary Friendship. He is currently professor of diplomatic practice at O.P. Jindal Global University.