Saturday, October 2, 2010

Unique India



So eventually it turned out to be a damp squib, the security beefing and the judgement of the Allahabad High court itself. The anticipated, violence, acrimony, and all the fun and anarchy only India can provide and enact to perfection did not take off. The Gods were unkind it just did not materialise.

But we have few other fascinating facets over the week that can be relished. The Allahabad High court has pronounced a judgement that takes back society to the medieval times, when it was believed that the earth was flat and the sun and stars went round our planet.Our learned legal minds have ensured that a matter of pure legal dispute over the title to a piece of land can been decided by the predominance of faith, theology , belief and myth. Not reason or historical evidence. Archaic in every sense! History has been given a burial. Historical evidence has been superseded by matter of faith. The dispute has been settled like a family court award.

Now our children can rewrite their history lessons. A Hindu mythical god Ram (Raman or Rama) now has been provided a stature and historical sanctity like that has been rightfully given to historical figures like Christ, The Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, or Confuscious.The court has decreed that Ram was born under the dome of the demolished mosque in Ayodhya. They have not specified the year, whether it is in the pre-Christian era or later. The Christian church at least endorses the view that the World was created in BC 4657, they only have to specify which month, week and date.

Such kind of travesty can happen only in India. Where pure belief, faith and obsession with myth can write or rewrite history. Only time can tell, if many of us will have to go back to school and re learn and read the contemporary version of history. Where a Napoleon or a Karl Marx may be myth and the pantheon of Gods would be historical reality.We Indians will have a unique distinction, and it is that, after the Zionists it is we who have deftly used  myth and legend to create legal title and right over a piece of land.

Now that the fascinating judgement has been given out, we can only hope and wish that the archaic Common wealth games will provide further thmasha and fun and can be the icing on the Indian cake.




11 comments:

Balachandran V said...

A judgement in this sort of a case cannot be based on purely legal dispute. Just because Raman's era cannot be fixed at a BC or AD - I am sure history goes back a long way further than that taught by the westerners - it does not mean that Raman or Arjunan did not exist. The traditional Indian culture do not measure time or history the way the West do. The myths and folklore and traditions of the civilizations that existed in this region cannot be swept away just because it is not there in recorded history. History is what people like to believe what is history. There is only one truth, one fact, but if you ask the people who lived in the same era, you are bound to get different versions, just as the Britishers called 'our' First War of Independence as the Sepoy Mutiny. Or the so-called Sikh terrorism in the Eighties is a fight for the rights of Sikhs; or the Maoists rebellion is the fight for survival of the tribal communities. History is what you interpret it to be.

Coming to the judgement - if it was any different, say, favoring one community over the other, the apprehensions of the country would have become a terrible reality. Of course,the final decision will be the Supreme Court, we will have to wait till then.

You see, truth, if unpleasant, has to be temporarily set aside. That is not hypocrisy, it is prudent statecraft.

History tells us that the temples and mosques in our country has changed Gods many times; how secular! Many temples have been desecrated and destroyed by Babar and his later generations. Akbar have built some.

You hit it right when you said that the dispute has been settled like a family court award. That is what we are finally - a family. Let common sense prevail over bloodthirsty truth - or fiction.

And should we single ourselves out as the only country who distort history? Look at every other country, they have done it too.

To non-believers like you and me, it is something we can mock at and spite at. Neither a Hindu nor a Muslim or identification with any religion, I welcome the judgement, even if it might be a coy attempt at diffusing a tense situation. Your heart and mine, in spite of the cynicism, burns for this land. Therein lies the final salvation.

dr.antony said...

The British Govt had divided the Indians into the Hindu and Muslim by the line of bifurcation at Ayodhya. In 1859, they restricted Hindus out side the Tomb, and the Muslims have been allowed to prayer inside. It was a mile stone in the division of Indians. Which has divided India also.We are still following the same principles of division and rule.
I joked somewhere that the Christians also should be allocated a small area to build a Church there!. Jesus Christ apparently had stopped there,on his way to Kashmir,as some historians claim.You don't find it in the history books,because I lost the book after I wrote that history.

Every religious place has passed hands.Jerusalem is the best example.All religions place their claims.But then,who will decide?

History has to be respected.And that should be the responsible way to make choices. Our existence will become a question, if we don't respect history.

I have often wondered, why do people insist on going to worshiping places? If they believe is God, He should listen and answer to prayers from any where. Old worshiping places should be protected as historical places,and no more new structures any where,for any religions. Why is it difficult for people to think that way in 21st century?

anilkurup59 said...

@ Bals & Dr Antony

The eloquence which with both of you commented on the topic was astonishing and pertinent.Admirable.
Way back in the early eighties , if you may be able recall there was this sect in the French Guyana who en mass killed themselves. And on the door step of their masters room was the quote " Those who forget history are contempt to repeat it". The book on the episode is titled" The Guyana Massacre".
Leaving that aside, I am not disputing the fact that the judgement was directed at reconciliation. But let me ask you will that happen?The dispute was simple land dispute in legal terms. And now as a via media the court apportioned the land in question like the proverbial primate intervening in the dispute between two felines over a piece of bread.
Ok if peace prevail let it be so.If reconciliation happen let it be , blessed be the land as they say.

Now to link a legend, a myth that has no apparent historical evidence, but is based on belief, faith and mere theology ( we have our own historians to decipher many historical codes and are no longer necessary to depend on British and Western Historians),is to defy reason, scientific temper and illogical for a court of law.
The sepoy mutiny was hijacked by the anti British movement like the Communist in Kerala hijacking the Punnapara uprising( quote Professor Sreedhara Panicker). And I do not find any reason to dispute the late professor's thesis and understanding of history.The Maoist uprising will be eventually hijacked by vested interests and the movement by the tribals will be labelled as law and order issue.
If a court rules that all the Hindu gods in the pantheon were born in certain places well then the whole country will have to be dug. It is a fact that the Islamic incursion into ancient India was over the bosom of Hindu temples and deities, but because of the historical tragedy and mistake like that do we have to do the same tit for tat to redress the injustice that was perpetrated??

The Babari Masjid issue is not for a temple. There is no dearth for temples. Many have been inundated or ruined. And none of these Hinutava folks are bothered about that.

The prime question is on what rationale did the court say that the perceived reincarnation of MahaVishnu the Hindu God took place under the demolished dome in Ayodhya???

Is it not fabrication and distortion to give veracity to a myth?? Imagine the flood gates that may be opened.
Remember the movie " Inhertit the Wind " Balan.

And Dr Antony, I feel that you are one of those rare guys who is not bowled over by the church and the laity.And seem to have the guts to air your views based on reason and substance .And yes if God exists he need not be confined or incarcerated to a temple, church, mosque or synagogue. , He can even be comfortable in the wash room.

Tomz said...

the Hindus believe that the verdict was a fare one and we don't know if the muslims also believe so. It seems that the verdict was an unfair one frm there point f view..

I don't know whether it called justice if the dispute is being setteled in this way..however, it needed a solution. and the judiciary was at least that much courageous to make move like this...

Lets hope that AYodhaya will become a great pilgrims tourist place in the coming years which is visited by Hindus and Muslims alike..

kaalpanique said...

what you wrote and the subsequent comment made good reading. AS far as rama is concerned, we dont know if rama didnt exist. perhaps there was a king who ruled ayodhya who was revered as god by teh ancients. perhaps the records they maintained weren't as good as today. the ASI has found evidence of a temple.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/25ayo1.htm
The site is beleived to be the birth place of rama since ancient times. And babur followed the tradition of the muslim conquerors to demolish them and supercede them with mosques. these are facts and part of our history. having said that... i dont know if we can go and correct our history. at some point of time we have to let go and move on. in this context, i believe a compromise or the middle path was the best solution possible. I only wish the verdict came before the 1992 demolition. but if u look at it purely from the legal point of view, then yes the land belonged to teh muslim group. The question is should you look at it like that? its a national property, and not the domain of an individual. and it should be treated diferently from any other property dispute.

Insignia said...

Enjoyed reading the views in this comment section.

Did Rama exist or not? History is distorted. Did a temple exist there? Dont know.

But Babar constructed a mosque. Did he destroy the temple to construct the mosque. Evidences are distorted again.

At the end of it, if Rama or Allah were to be present, they wouldnt have wanted all these bloodshed and war.

Its a piece of land in India, belonging to people. Why fight for the ownership. Do they plan to slice it off and ship it somewhere? Its ridiculous.

anilkurup59 said...

@ Tomz

Fair or unfair ?
The judgement was more of an arbitration. If that will help the issue let it be.
But distortion of history based on belief and faith of a group because they are in the majority is strange jurisprudence. Dont you think so?


@ Kalpanique

Compromise? When some one gate crashes into a house and place a chair their will he have the right to the title of the house?The criminal act of demolition is now used as an alibi to rewrite history. Can you dispute this ?

@ Insignia,
Ridiculous happens in India. Everything related to this issue proves.

A New Beginning said...

What Im concerend about are the thousand innoicent lives that were affected in the process....whatever happens...The marks of brutility can never be erased.

A New Beginning said...

Itsd time we mature as human being and make humanity stand before our trivial thoughts that wreck havoc!

The Holy Lama said...

Idhar khuda hai, udhar khuda hai. Jahan nahin wahan kal kudega, yeh vachan PWD ka hai.

The bench has given a simple solution to a problem and if you want to make it complex, seek dates for abstract things, it can be difficult.

Let's make sure that PWD doesn't dig again:D

anilkurup59 said...

@ New Beginning

'Thank goodness nothing untoward yet.

@ The holy Lama

Abstract- You agree that the matter is so. Well that tells the whole.