Ayodhya is an ancient city of India situated near Faizabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. According to the religious scriptures, Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom and the birthplace of Hindu god Rama. Ayodhya (Awadh) has been regarded as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus (Times of India, n.d.). The Ayodhya dispute arose as it is believed that a temple was[Read More...]
This 5th August (2020) the Prime Minister of India did the ground breaking ceremony (Bhumi Pujan) for Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The Prime Minster compared the 15th August; when India got freedom to the 5th August, when according to him Lord Ram was liberated. Also he said that as all the people rallied behind Mahatma Gandhi to get India freedom;[Read More...]
On December 6th, 1992, it was not just Babari Masjid that was razed to the ground but also the spirit of the Constitution of India. Those of us, who have followed these cases and the vicious movement led by the Sangh parivar in the 1990s for the Ram Janam Bhumi know that they had least faith in the judiciary. After[Read More...]
When Babri Mosque was being demolished in broad day light, the slogan being chanted by the leaders was, Yeh to Kewal jahnki hai, Kashi Mathura Baaki hai (This is the beginning, Kashi Mathura are next on the line). Supreme Court despite giving the same land to those who demolished the Mosque did call it a crime. The Ram Temple was[Read More...]
The event of Bhoomi Poojanof of Ram-Mandir in Ayodhya on 5 August 2020 marks the beginning of the politico-social endorsement of majority communalism in the country. In the articles/news stories/editorials/party releases/comments etc. written with reference to the Constitution and the Republic of India on this subject, one common thing could be discerned. That is, no intellectual or leader has accepted[Read More...]
How does a poet respond to the situation of a city under siege? For a poet, a crisis can trigger a tenacious journey even in the midst of a siege. The Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s Memory for Forgetfulness tracks the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon in which Beirut, where he lived, was bombed. “Beirut, [is] surrounded by Israeli tanks and official Arab paralysis,” he wrote. Beirut is holding on to its nerves as it strives to “protect the radiance of its meaning as the capital[Read More...]
Ground breaking ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya at the very site where Babri Masjid once stood was regrettable for more than one reason. This event was made possible by a dubious verdict of the Supreme Court of India, a verdict that went against many of its own findings. Supreme Court ruled that the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992[Read More...]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not just in his personal capacity, but in his capacity as the Prime Minister of 130 crore Indians quite unexpectedly re-defined Rama totally in a different way than how the RSS/BJP have shown him to us for the last thirty years since 1989. He did that at Ayodhya and at the Ramajanma Bhoomi temple Bhoomi poojan[Read More...]
The RSS-BJP government of India led by a seasoned RSS whole-timer, Narendra Modi has miserably failed in providing basic amenities, employment, education, security and peace to 138 crores of Indians (out of which approximately 80% are Hindus ) but on last August 5, he had a joyous news to share with the people of the country. While laying the foundation[Read More...]
Last week, Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, dressed like a priest-king in a saffron scarf and a silver crown performed a sacred ritual in the Ayodhya to found a new Hindu temple on a site where, for hundreds of years, the historic Babri Masjid (mosque) once stood. The state-sponsored ceremony was meant to show the transformation of India from[Read More...]
