Put Ayodhya on backburner, focus on better power, roads, rule of law

Put Ayodhya firmly on the backburner and focus on better power, better roads and rule of law.

Twenty-three years after Hindu zealots pulled down the Babri masjid in Ayodhya sparking widespread violence and revenge terror attacks, there are disturbing signs that a wound that never healed is set to bleed again. Reports from Ayodhya suggest that truckloads of bricks have arrived there, raw material for the building of a temple. The Ram temple has for long been a BJP poll promise but few expected it to act, even with the landslide mandate it now has in hand. The notion that something may actually come to pass, with or without the party’s blessing, is worrying.

Arrival of a fresh load of stones from Rajasthan at the disputed Ram Janmabhumi-Babri Masjid site once again swung the spotlight onto the Ram temple controversy. (Agencies)

The Union culture minister, Mahesh Sharma, has added fuel to the fire by affirming that his government is committed to building the temple, even if it would wait for a Supreme Court verdict or arrive at a “mutual understanding” on its construction. He added for good measure that “the people of the country want that the Ram temple should be established”. There are several problems with these assertions. First, there was no need for it: The matter is with the apex court, which has said it might need 10 years to study the case files. Second, the chances of a ‘mutual understanding’ are minimal and are likely to wholly disappear in the face of such public utterances. Third, there is no evidence to suggest that all the people of the country want a temple, or indeed any other religious shrine, on the problematic plots of land.