NEW DELHI, 8 July 2005 — The terrorist attack on the Hindu religious shrine in Ayodhya — now the site for Ram temple but originally the place where the 16th century Babri Mosque stood till Dec. 6, 1992 — filled almost every Indian with horror. “Oh no, Ayodhya again,” was the instant reaction of average Indians to the act of terrorism. After all, the Babri Mosque-Ram temple controversy right from the time when the mosque’s gates were opened in 1986 to the day the mosque was demolished by a fanatic Hindu crowd in 1992 was the horrific story of a communal bloodbath leading to the Muslim persecution in India. It began in places like Bombay in 1993 and culminated in the Gujarat riots of 2002 when thousands of Muslims were killed in a state-sponsored communal strife.
All sorts of fears and apprehensions filled Indians: Will the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party once again try to fish in troubled waters? Will communal peace be shattered again? Will Gujarat be repeated all over India again? All these questions nagged citizens. Frankly, no one had any clue as to what exactly would happen until one noticed a small report on an Indian news channel on the very day the terrorists had tried to enter the Hindu shrine. The report said that the life in Ayodhya was quite normal after the terrorist attack on the temple compound and there was no panic in the city, which used to boil with communal rage even with the slightest provocation.
Of course, the BJP did give a strike call but it flopped virtually across the country. But what has changed India in the last few years? Why the Hindus and Muslims don’t get enraged any more over Ayodhya? Well, the answer is simple: They have seen through the machinations of politicians engineering hate to win elections. They have seen an attack by an alleged Muslim crowd on a train leading to the killings of over 2,000 people in Gujarat. The average Indian has realized that the Hindus and Muslims have to live together in India. He also knows that communal riots and prolonged violence would not only disturb the peace but would also disrupt the economic activity.
In short, Indian priorities have changed. Now economy is driving politics. Besides, India is a democracy. Even the BJP knows the power of the Muslim votebank; they know what unseated them in the 2004 parliamentary elections. Given this scenario, reviving the Ram card would be bad politics even for the BJP.
