CHAPTER 4
Ramjanmabhumi: Hinduizing
Politics and Militarizing
Hindudom
Having bifurcated the Indian citizenry into Rambhakts and non-
Rambhakts, the Hindutva forces have successfully coerced everyone into
accepting (or resisting) a fabulous mythology as their history and a fas-
cist fantasy as their future. These schemes are presented even more effec-
tively in the Ram temple campaign.
The Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhumi issue was not built up for any rea-
sons of piety or morality but purely for political-mobilization purposes.
Admitting the fact that the Ayodhya movement did contribute to the BJP's
success, Atal Behari Vajpayee wrote in Frontline, "We joined the movement
because Sri Ram epitomises the cultural heritage of all Indians, he sym-
bolises our cultural nationalism. Through this movement, we were able
to unleash the suppressed aspirations of millions of Indians and canalise
their nationalist fervour towards nation-building The Ayodhya move-
ment seeks to restore the temple at the birthplace of Sri Ram since this
would contribute to the restoration of our cultural heritage as well as set
right a grave historical wrong/' The Babri Masjid, according to Advani,
was meant to serve as a "continuous ocular demonstration" of the cul-
tural subjugation of the Hindus, and hence its effacement from the face
of the earth is "not a matter for regret." This "grave historical wrong" has
been effectively turned into a concrete grievance of the present and gifted
to the Hindu progeny to carry forward.^1 This future-causing and future-
resembling present site is of celluloid nature, with a simplistic story line of
the good and the evil fighting the battle of righteousness; all the glitz and
glamour of political power, divine ordinations, and domination and vio-