- Dr. Manmohan Vaidya, Sah Sarkaryavah, RSS
Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, is raring to turn the
pages of history and usher a new chapter in its saga with the construction of a
grand Shri Ram Temple slated to commence on August 5. The chronicle of this
festival will be inscribed in golden letters in the cultural history of Bharat.
Not a mere block of concrete and stones, this temple is the symbol of faith and
aspirations of billions of Bharatiya people spread across the world. A landmark
event, this day transports one back to the year 1951 when the then President of
independent Bharat, Rajendra Prasad, did prana pratishtha puja of the Somnath
Temple. Illustrious leaders of the country like Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi,
Kanhaiya Lal Munshi, V P Menon, S Radhakrishnan and Rajendra Prasad had hailed
the resurrection and restoration of the Somnath temple as a proud moment in the
history of independent Bharat – an affirmation of our eternal legacy. However,
then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru deemed the act as “Hindu revivalism”. In
his book Pilgrimage to Freedom, KM Munshi, a minister in Nehru’s cabinet,
reproduced excerpts of a debate that ensued between the two of them at that
time. Today, given the backdrop of Ayodhya, reinvoking parts of that debate is
crucial to better understand the cultural significance of the restoration of
Ram Mandir, and also, why there is opposition to it.
The history of Somnath Temple is comparable to that of the Ram
Mandir of Ayodhya as the Muslim Turkic invader Mahmud of Ghazni attacked the
Somnath temple and successive Muslim invaders repeatedly demolished it,
eventually destroying it completely.
Temples that comprise the cultural heritage of a civilisation
are not mere physical symbols, they are an embodiment of the moral values and
traditions that bind and energise the whole society. Munshi writes: “In
November 1947, Sardar …visited the temple. At a public meeting, Sardar
announced: ‘On this auspicious day of the New Year, we have decided that
Somnath should be reconstructed. You, people of Saurashtra, should do your
best.’”
The country’s leadership of that time was split into two
opposing ideological camps. Munshi writes: “At the end of the cabinet meeting,
Jawaharlal called me and said: ‘I do not like your attempt to revive Somnath.
This is Hindu revivalism.’”
Why did Nehru oppose this act as “Hindu revivalism,” while
Munshi referred to it as “Bharatiya collective-conscious” and saw the revival
as a celebration for the common man? These two interpretations are in reality
the two different ideologies that have inhabited the Bharatiya mind. Nehru was
not opposed to Bharat but the Bharat of his dreams was a spin-off of the
European view of life, which was diametrically opposite to the Bharatiya view.
It was “abharatiya”. Whereas the concept of Bharat of leaders like Sardar
Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Munshi was steeped in Bharatiya civilisation.
Munshi goes on to write: “On April 24, 1951, I wrote a letter to
him (Nehru) which I am reproducing next literally: ‘When the whole scheme was
discussed by Sardar with Bapu, he stated that it was all right except that the
funds necessary for reconstructing the temple should come from the public.
Thereafter, the idea that the Government of India should finance the
reconstruction of the temple was given up… Yesterday you referred to ‘Hindu
revivalism’. I know your views on the subject; I have always done justice to
them; I hope you will equally do justice to mine… It is my faith in our past
which has given me the strength to work in the present and to look forward to
our future. I cannot value freedom if it deprives us of the Bhagavad Gita or
uproots our millions from the faith with which they look upon our temples and
thereby destroys the texture of our lives.’”
And so the reconstruction went ahead. When the time came to
install the deity, Munshi approached Prasad and asked him to perform the
ceremony, but added a rider, “that he should accept it only if he was prepared
not to fail us.” Munshi says “when it was announced that Dr Rajendra Prasad was
to inaugurate the Temple, Jawaharlal vehemently protested”. Still, “Rajendra
Prasad kept his promise. However, his speech delivered at Somnath was published
in all the papers, but was cut out from the official organs.”
It is ironic that Nehru, the Indian icon of liberalism and
freedom of expression, should make sure that the speech of the President is
censored. In this manner, despite opposition, Somnath was rebuilt and today the
magnificent shrine attracts millions of devotees. However, 60 years of rule of
one regime and the patronage of governments has proliferated the proponents of
the Nehruvian idea of Bharat in academia and the media. Hence, history is
repeating itself and the opposition to the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is more vocal
than the opposition to the Somnath temple was. This does not dampen the spirits
of innumerable Bharatwasis who believe in the integral and holistic spiritual
tradition of Bharat.
Restoration of the national and cultural heritage of Bharat will
begin with the Ram Mandir construction on August 5. The Doordarshan telecast of
the inaugural will enable people of Bharatiya origin across the world to
witness this historic moment. In observance of corona-related directives, this
event will see fewer participants in attendance. It is my firm belief that the
temple trustees also view this event as the re-establishment of eternal
Bhartiya legacy and pride and not just the construction of a structure. This
must be why senior representatives of various faiths and sects like Jain,
Bauddh, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,
priests, Mathadhish and spiritual gurus of our country have been invited to
grace this jubilant affair.
The Ram Mandir is not a mere temple, it is the symbol of our cultural heritage.
No comments:
Post a Comment