There is a bloody storm blowing over India largely owning to the imminent demolishing of Babri Mosque. As if that’s not enough, there swirls another peril: smash 3000 more Mosques. That’s what makes this book timely. This book has to separate sections. Each section is authored by a well-known academician, dealing with the Babri Mosque issue inspected from different angles.
Sarvepalli Gopal- Emeritus Professor of Contemporary History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi provides us with an introductory chapter. He takes a strong stand alongside with those who wish to see the Mosque remain intact. Gopal elaborates various reasons; however intellectually flawed they may be. Take for example, secularism. The American Heritage Dictionary defines secularism as “the view that consideration of the present well-being of mankind should predominate over religious considerations in civil affairs or public education.” According to Gopal, this western kind of secularism was modified and adapted to the Indian setting by Nehru in which “there was not opposition to religion but the removal of religion from public affairs, the separation of the State from all faiths,” So far so good. But, then, Gopal drops a Hindu bomb the teachings of Hinduism at their best are in full accordance with such secular practices.” Can we assume, those practicing Hinduism hopefully at their best, are precisely practicing secularism Or can we say with the future: To guarantee secularism in India, proselytize everyone into a Hindu, to the best To further complicate the simple subject of secularism, Gopal adds, “Secularism is more than a passive attitude of religious tolerance; it is a positive concept of equality in all spheres. Religion has to be separated not only from politics but also from the law.” Then, Gopal turns mystical: “Secularism is more than laws, concessions and special considerations. Lisa state of mind, almost an instinctive feeling, such as existed, for many centuries in India, when Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis, and followers of other faiths lived side by side in general harmony, whatever the religions of their rulers.”
K.N.Panikkar Professor of Cultural and Intellectual History at the JNU and Sushil Srivasta of the Department of Medieval and Modern History of the University of Allahabad wrote essays “A Historical Overview” and “How the British Saw the Issue,” respectively, Both are written with excellence but inject a bitter taste by pointing their fingers at the British as the root cause of the problem.
A.G. Noorani is a lawyer, who wrote a chapter “Legal Aspects to the Issue.” He details an excellent historical overview of the failure of the judicial system in India by stating, “It is four decades now since a mosque was forcibly occupied and converted into a temple and the country’s legal system has completely failed to redress the wrong.”
Mushirul Hasan Professor of History at the Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; authored the chapter “Competing Symbols and Shared Codes; Inter-Community Relations in Modern India.” Very well written, leaving the readers with a note of hope that in future, Hindu ~ Muslim bonds will strengthen as they had been in the past!
Neeladri Bhattacharya of the Center for Historical Studies at JNU, authored “Myth, History and the Politics of Ramjanmabhumi” essay. One learns how Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) manipulated the myths and stories of Ramjanam stan. No historical record notes the exacts pot of Ram Chanders birth in Ayodhya. But thanks to the VHPs propaganda: myths and stories have been created, circulated, and rehearsed to the Hindu masses. With the end result, Ram myths have been transformed into facts.
Romila Thaper Professor of Ancient History at JNU, presented probably the best essay of this book, “A Historical Perspective on the Story of Rama.” This essay traces the ways that the epic of Rama has been used and rewritten over the centuries to suit political and religious objectives; similar to what the Hindu nationalists are doing today. While we have heard of Valmikis Ramayana, there exists numerous other texts on Ram-Katha, Try pronouncing some of these names; Ramopakhyana, Balakanda, Uutarakanda, Dasaratha Jataka, Paumacharyam, Raghuvamsham, Pratimanataka, Uttaramacharita, Ramacharitam, Iramavataram, Ranganatharamayana, Pampa Ramayana, Knttbasa Ramayan, Bhavartha Ramayana, Adhyatma Ramayana, Bhushundi Ramayana, Adbhuta Ramayana, Anand a Ramayana, Chatakantakatai, and of course, Tulsidass Ramachritamanas, It seems, Ram Chander is a complicated subject.
Aditya Mukherjee of the Center for Historical Studies at JNU, wrote an essay “Colonialism and Communalism.” It doesn’t take much of an imagination that in this essay, British Raj is the culprit. Perhaps, it is easy to put the blame on someone else.
Asghar Ali Engineer Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, Bombay, wrote “Hindu-Muslim Relations Before and After 1947. He established that throughout the history, Hindu-Muslim confrontations were limited in their impact and were not as extreme as they are today in India with the terrible repercussions. Again, he blamed the British as the bad guys.
Amiya Kumar Bagchi Director of the Center for Studies in Social Studies, Calcutta, wrote “Predatory Commercialization and Communalism in India.” This paper shows the economic basis of the phenomenon of communalism. He discusses the militant Hinduism and the militant Islam and the urgent need that they both be stopped before it is too late. For that purpose, he recommends a new third force militant secular ideology. What the heck is that?
Anatomy of a Confrontation is a well written book. I would recommend this book to those who are interested to learn the Babri Mosque issue from the legal and Ram Myth perspectives only, I must caution the readers, judging the contents of this book even from an anatomical basis, this book is incomplete. For reasons unknown to me, the entire event of 1951] in which Nehru involved himself in demolishing a Mosque at Somnath and building a Hindu temple is missing in the book. This book doesn’t explore the Hindu psyche, What prompts 4 Hindu Mind to attack someone else’s place of worship? We need at Exton Patho Physiology of a Hindu Working Mind outlining compelling instincts, to drive a human being to demolish or desecrate others temples. It would be a terrible mistake to regard the Babri Masjid Ramjanam Bhumi conflict as an isolated issue without any association to the: (1) attack on the 40 Sikh historic sacred temples in November 1984; (2) destroying the Buddhist and Jaina shrines, over the years; (3) destroying many temples of the original inhabitants of India before enslaving them by the Aryan Hindus. The Babri Masjid-Ramjanma Bhumi quagmire is only a small stage of a continuum, depicting grisly Hindu tamasha.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 4, 1992
