Religious polarization again for vote gain
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The Varanasi district court's order to open the cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi to Hindus for worship within a week, and the prompt action of the interested parties to implement it within hours, is neither surprising nor unexpected. The mosque management committee had approached the Allahabad High Court seeking an interim stay on the order allowing the puja, but that was also rejected on Friday. The Hindutva forces, who have been ruling the country for a decade now, are now engaged in a massive effort to secure a third term. The secular democratic society had already well understood earlier that Hindutva forces would use any means necessary to achieve their goal and that they would ensure that neither the constitution nor the judiciary would stand in their way. For the past ten years, the Narendra Modi government and its ideological forces have been trying to achieve their declared goal of realizing the dream of a Hindu Rashtra by stirring up the tender sentiments of the majority community and intimidating the religious minorities as much as possible.
While they were shaking the entire country with their slogans of 'Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan' and cries of 'Jai Shri Ram', it was clear that it was not the Mahatma's dream of Ram Rajya that the Hindutva forces were carrying forward, but the cruel mindset of those who had fired bullets into the chest of the great man. Therefore, they were very vocal about their plans to restrict citizenship to those who do not believe in foreign religions, to abrogate the special constitutional status of the Muslim-majority region of Jammu and Kashmir, to abolish the diversity of family laws of different religious groups by implementing a uniform civil code, and to build a Ram temple on the same land where the 500-year-old Babri Masjid was demolished. The Modi government has demonstrated through its actions that a secular democratic constitution need not uphold the value of freedom of faith or cultural protection guaranteed to religious minorities. Allegations of treason and terrorism are selectively imposed only on certain religious groups, and the arrest and prolonged detention of individuals without trial or conviction have become rampant. The fascist mentality has descended to such a vicious level that it proudly considers sending tens of thousands of 'renegades' to a Zionist country, which has shown no qualms in indiscriminately slaughtering innocent women and children for months, as an international achievement.
There is an opposition in India that is attempting to rally the support of patriots by highlighting that this trend is neither just nor fair, and that failure to oppose it through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will result in the loss of India's existence as a free democracy. This opposition comprises national and regional parties united under the banner of INDIA, which is steadfast in its belief that the 18th Lok Sabha elections should lead to the removal of the fascist government. However, while the government-corporate nexus is using everything in its power and tactics to dismantle the opposition, some parties are wavering and considering withdrawing at the last minute in favour of narrow factional and regional political interests.
The confidence that this situation gives to the saffron brigade is not insignificant. This was evident through the statements of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister during the presentation of the 2024 interim budget. Narendra Modi's enthusiastic declaration that he will return with a full budget next July is a testament to this confidence. Additionally, credit for the construction of the Ram temple was attributed to the Modi government in the President's policy address. This continues the effort to appeal to the emotionalism of hyper-nationalism among the majority community, as seen in the last two general elections. It should be remembered that the Prime Minister and his colleagues, who took office after swearing an oath to uphold the Constitution, which unequivocally declares that the State shall have no affinity or distance with any particular religion, are presenting the construction of a place of worship for one section as one of the government's achievements. But then what about the 2000 crores spent on it? Is it from the public exchequer? If so, isn't it a blatant violation of the Constitution? How does it become the government's decision and achievement? If the argument is that the obstacle in the way of the construction of the Ram temple was removed, wasn't it the Supreme Court that did it? Didn't the Prime Minister even thank the Supreme Court for that? Without providing any explanation to these questions, a situation has been created where a part of the Gyanvapi Masjid, which is still an active Muslim place of worship, has been opened for idol worship. In the present situation, the only presumption possible is that it is only a matter of time before the mosque is destroyed and annexed to the adjoining Vishwanath temple.
