Temple is built, let’s focus on nation building now

The BJP government has nothing much to talk about and hence it tries to divert the nation’s attention from the burning issues such as unemployment and price rise, he pointed out. Referring to the BJP’s campaign to whip up frenzy over Ram, the J&K leader said Lord Ram belongs to the entire nation. Ram is everywhere, not just in Ayodhya

We have to lay the foundation of India for the next one thousand years. Moving ahead from the temple, now all of us countrymen take an oath to build a strong, capable, grand and divine India from this very moment - Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after the consecration of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya

For this, he said, it is important that Ram’s ideal should be there in the conscience of the nation. So far so good! It is time, Modi, BJP and RSS walked the talk. Let us sincerely hope that the national conscience about Ram will be used as a unifying factor and a dividing one on communal grounds.

In his buildup for the Pran Pratishta at Ayodhya temple, Modi also invoked Gandhi and spoke about Ram Rajya (which we discussed last week).

The Prime Minister asked the countrymen to expand their consciousness from Dev to Desh, Ram to Rashtra - from deity to nation. He asked them to learn from Shri Hanuman’s service, devotion and dedication. “These feelings of devotion, service and dedication in every Indian will become the basis of a capable, grand and divine India”, he said.

Vice President JagdeepDhankar said in his social media post “January 22 is etched in history as (the) defining moment of 'tryst with divinity' in our civilisational trajectory. On this day, let us resolve to inculcate Prabhu Shri Ram’s values of Integrity, forgiveness, bravery, sincerity, humility, care and compassion as a way of life to bring about enlightenment, peace, harmony and righteousness all around.”

Great.

Now that the Mission Ram Mandir is complete, Dhankar and Modi must remember what they said and work on nation building activity. The Vice President may not be directly involved in government policies and programmes, but he presides over the all-important Rajya Sabha where Prabhu Shri Ram’s values of Integrity, forgiveness, bravery, sincerity, humility, care and compassion as a way of life come into play. They matter a lot when it comes to giving equal opportunities to the treasury and opposition benches to air their views, showcase the national issues and find amicable solutions.

Of late, the nation has witnessed a series of expulsions of opposition MPs with the BJP exhibiting its muscle power to silence the opposition and bulldoze its way to pass important bills, including the ones to amend the criminal laws. That is neither bravery nor democracy.

VP Dhankar was apparently inspired by Nehru’s Tryst With Destiny. Good. But the BJP criticises Nehru day in and day out. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Mo-Sha combine does not miss any to blast Nehru by twisting history.

The other day, I was at the Madhu Dandavate Centenary celebrations in Mumbai where Farooq Abdullah criticised the BJP government for targeting Nehru. “Nehru jailed Sheikh Abdullah, my father. Yet we never unduly targeted the first Prime Minister,” Farooq said and recalled the contribution made by Nehru in laying a strong foundation for nation building. “We hold our heads in Parliament when we see the ruling party attacking Indira Gandhi and the previous governments,” Farooq said regretting that the Ministers do not spare even the dead. He asked: How can anyone forget the Green Revolution brought about under Indira’s leadership and the Bangladesh War that India had won?

The BJP government has nothing much to talk about and hence it tries to divert the nation’s attention from the burning issues such as unemployment and price rise, he pointed out. Referring to the BJP’s campaign to whip up frenzy over Ram, the J&K leader said Lord Ram belongs to the entire nation. Ram is everywhere, not just in Ayodhya. “We as the opposition must unitedly fight the politics of hate and create national awareness about peace, living in harmony, compassion and equality that Lord Ram taught us,” Farooq said.

Farooq was also equally critical of the opposition for not quickly uniting on presenting a viable alternative to the BJP’s politics of hate. “Our leaders must show broad mindedness and agree on a common minimum programme and seat sharing based on each party’s strengths and weaknesses. He also pooh-poohed the talk about the PM candidate and said “let us win the elections first”. There isn’t much time left, he rightly said.

In a way, Modi has made the opposition’s job easy by invoking Mahatma Gandhi and harping on Ram Rajya. They do not have to struggle much in educating the GenX, Y and Zee about Mahatma Gandhi. The nation knows it now! The opposition has a great opportunity to build on this awareness and quickly build their narrative and keep talking about the Constitutional values, government’s responsibilities and the people’s rights.

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and the marches planned by Akhilesh Yadav provide great opportunities to the opposition in messaging on their version of Ram Rajya.

We discussed the importance of singing Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite Ram Dhun during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. During the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress workers broke into chanting Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram….Ishwar Allah Tero Naam just when Rahul was prevented from entering a temple at Morigaon in Assam. In fact, the Yatra should sing Ram Dhun every evening just as Mahatma Gandhi used to do. Gandhi was assassinated on January 30 as he was going for his evening prayer meeting. The Martyrs’ Day is another occasion for all – the ruling as well as the opposition – to remind themselves of the Gandhian values and Ram Rajya.

BJP’s critics might say that the party has no moral authority to talk of Ram Rajya when women are being ill-treated despite the Beti Bachao…campaign. Manipur violence, the gang rape of an IIT student in Varanasi by BJP IT cell members and the alleged molestation of wrestling medal winners by party MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh are some of the examples that the cite. The government has been silent on all these.

In Ram Rajya, women were highly respected and even the commoner’s feelings were heard.

Under the double engine rule, it looks like one-way traffic with the governments at Centre and the State suppressing the opposition of any kind and silencing the dissent by using caged parrots. Harping on double engine as a political tool is okay, but usage of the doctrine by the government and constitutional heads is certainly against the country’s federal structure. Even on an auspicious occasion such as the Pran Pratishta, Yogi Adityanath refers to double engine government.

As I have been saying, I am neither anti-BJP nor pro-Congress. I am only interested in good governance and a strong opposition so that both can work for building the nation. Nehru had appreciated Vajpayee and even remarked that the then Bharatiya Jana Sangh MP would one day be the Prime Minister. It is that kind of broadmindedness which is required now and not witch hunting.

When we talk of Maryada Purshottam, we must understand what it means. Maryada means honour and righteousness. Need I say more?

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)