The BJP government is launching its blitzkrieg election campaign with the inaugural function of the Ram Temple. To cap it all there is no attempt being made to allay the insecure feelings of the Muslim community in India.
Syed Ali Mujtaba
Leaders of the Indian National Congress are in Dharam Chintan (religious quandary) over their participation on the impending consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya later this month.
Congressmen are in a moral dilemma: Not taking part in the inauguration of the temple may result in the party losing Hindu votes and there is always a possibility that the voters may perceive them as anti-national. To come out of this dilemma, Congressmen should recall the vision of a secular India of its tallest leader Jawaharlal Nehru.
For Nehru, secularism is an ideology that implies separation of religion from the state. The Constitution of India contains Nehru’s philosophy on a religious neutral state in great detail. According to Nehru, secularism means equal protection by the state to all religions and not to favour one religion at the expense of others. Nehru’s vision of secularism opposed the domination of any religion on the state. He advocated that the state should not adopt any particular faith as its religion.
Nehru’s vision of secularism is rooted in his emphasis on political and social equality of all religions. His idea of secularism was that each religion should have an exclusive identity of its own and all religions live in perfect harmony. He did not imply a hostile relationship between religions. He envisaged some degree of respect and freedom for all religions without any interference from the state.
According to Nehru the state should be impartial in religious matters. The state should not associate with any religious faith. Nehru was opposed to any direct relation of the government with any religion.
Nehru was not in favour of complete separation between religion and state and favoured the state’s interference in religion only to bring reforms if needed at religious practices.
According to Nehru secularism means complete opposition to all kinds of communalism. He suggested that the success of secularism depends on the attitude of the majority community towards minorities. He said minority communalism can be tolerated due to their insecure feelings, but majority communalism cannot be tolerated because that will be harmful to peaceful coexistence in society.
For Nehru secularism was not only a socio-political theory but a mental approach of the individuals living in a society. He emphasised religious freedom and tolerance in society, to promote the idea of unity in diversity.
In 1929, Nehru drafted the policies of the Congress and a future Indian nation where he outlined the concept of secularism in India. Nehru promoted the idea of the secular nation in the 1937 provincial elections that facilitated the Congress to sweep the elections and to form governments in several provinces of India.
In the inauguration of Ram Temple at Ayodhya, it is seen that there is official interference of the state favouring a particular religion. It also exposes the well-established conspiracy of majoritarian communalism in India. There have been many incidences of Hindu radicalisation which is posing a threat to the composite culture of the country.
The inauguration of Ram Temple points towards growing feeling of insecurity among the Muslim minority in India. They are finding it difficult to adjust to the new realities where open preaching of majoritarian communalism is being practiced.
In this context an anonymous social media post is circulating that says Muslims should not travel in trains from January 14 to January 30. The BJP is planning to bring lakhs of people from across the country to Ayodhya through trains and the fear is that anti-Muslim slogans may be raised to provoke the community. Apart from trains, free bus rides have been arranged to take people to Ayodhya. This may light the fire of communal riots in the country.
All this is happening in view of the Lok Sabha elections in March 2024. The BJP government is launching its blitzkrieg election campaign with the inaugural function of the Ram Temple. To cap it all there is no attempt being made to allay the insecure feelings of the Muslim community in India.
Ram Mandir’s inauguration certainly reflects on the changing nature of the Indian state.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. His new book ‘Essays on Changing Nature of Indian State’ has just hit the stands. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
