Is Modi claiming divine discretion?

Hinduism could do so because of its diversity. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement has dealt a deadly blow to the diversity of Hinduism. This is the most worrying point for us. It is also worrying that the religious institutions, including Akhadas and others, who have the responsibility of protecting the identity of different sects, seem to have surrendered to the attempts of Hindutva forces

We should also not dismiss the discourse over the Ram Mandir consecration (Pran Pratishtha) as mere political uproar created by the RSS and the BJP. People are concentrating only on the event, not the theme. They are overlooking the dangerous design of destroying the constructs the Indians have woven around religion and tradition. We should also not limit the debate to religion and the State; the State should not own or patronize any particular religion. There is no question of doubting it. Our constitution has spelled it out in no uncertain terms. There is no unambiguity. We are also aware of how Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru advised President Rajendra Prasad not to participate in the Pooja ceremony of the Somanath Temple. Nehru had also questioned why the Rajpramukh (Governor) of Saurashtra had donated money to the temple from the exchequer. We should not turn away our eyes from the fact that the RSS could manage to reach us to the stage where the State and the union cabinet have put all their energy into celebrating the Ayodhya event. Both the center and the State are spending liberally but without any transparency. There is no qualm that the State has chosen a religion over others. Does it mean that we should accept the current state of affairs and surrender to the RSS projecting India as a Hindu Rashtra?

The Congress has done a great service to the nation by rejecting the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya. The party has rightly termed it a political project.

"Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter. But the RSS/BJP have long made a political project of the temple in Ayodhya. The inauguration of the incomplete temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS has been obviously brought forward for electoral gain," said the party.

"While abiding by the 2019 Supreme Court judgment and honoring the sentiments of millions who revere Lord Ram, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury have respectfully declined the invitation to what is clearly an RSS/BJP event," it said.

However, the delay in deciding an ideologically crucial issue reflects the dilemma the party has been in for so many years. The party has not been able to eliminate ideological vacillations. There are elements in the party who still endorse soft Hindutva as a political line. The party has failed to take a clear stand on the issue.

We must also not miss the point of how the RSS has appropriated religious institutions and traditions. The Supreme Court verdict in the Ramjanmabhoomi case facilitated the process by authorizing the government to create a trust to build up the Ram Temple. An earlier verdict of the Allahabad High Court handed over the site to the Nirmohi Akhada. The Supreme Court reversed the High Court verdict.

While the current debate over state and religion and the constitutionality of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s performing the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Temple is relevant, the issue of changing the form and content of Hinduism should not be overlooked. It has never been monolithic, which is why all kinds of faiths and cultures have survived on this land. The process changed not only Hinduism but also all other faiths that came to India, including Islam, Zarthustrism, and Christianity.

Hinduism could do so because of its diversity. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement has dealt a deadly blow to the diversity of Hinduism. This is the most worrying point for us. It is also worrying that the religious institutions, including Akhadas and others, who have the responsibility of protecting the identity of different sects, seem to have surrendered to the attempts of Hindutva forces. The only welcome exception is the institution of the Shankaracharyas. They have declared that the consecration ceremony is not by the terms laid down by the scriptures. They have asserted their authority as the arbiters of Sanatan Dharma. They have exposed the fact that the ceremony is being done to achieve a political purpose. They say that an incomplete temple cannot undergo such a ceremony. They have also questioned the authority of the trust that is organizing the event.

“This is a huge responsibility. As it is also said in our scriptures, we have to awaken divine consciousness in ourselves for the Yagya and worship of God. Therefore, according to the guidance I have received from some pious souls and great men of the spiritual journey and according to the ‘Yama-Niyams’ suggested by them, I am starting a special ritual," the prime minister said in his statement just before starting the ritual. The statement is a covert denial of the authority of the Shankaracharyas. The prime minister has refuted their authority without naming them. He has referred to “guidance from pious souls.”

"God has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India. This is a huge responsibility, he says. Does the message not indicate he is trying to claim divine discretion? Does it not contradict the Constitution?

We need to revive a discourse on myths and religion. It would be relevant to quote the great socialist Dr.Rammanohar Lohia. He says, “Devotees of Ram have intermittently tended to become wife-banishers, those of Krishna stealers, and of Siva lovers of carrion. In its process of degeneracy and distortion, the limited personality becomes narrow, exuberant, dissolute, non-dimensional, episodic, and amorphous. A degenerate Ram is the ripening of the narrow personality; a degenerate Krishna is that of the dissolute personality; and a degenerate Siva is that of the formless personality. Ram lives a double existence as limited and narrow, Krishna as exuberant and philanderer, and Siva as non-dimensional and episodic. I will not be so stupid as to suggest a remedy.”

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)