Rising like a phoenix from the ashes !

Dear Mr. Dasgupta,

What a delightful tangled web you have woven in your piece ‘ Rising from the Rubble’ (Tehelka, Sunday,Nov.29,2009) !

But you certainly have no intention of deceiving your reader. You are in earnest.

Which is, ofcourse, the problem. Before I proceed, a disclosure. I am writing from the Hindu Diaspora and regularly read the ‘liberal’ papers, such as they are.And most certainly a regular reader of Tehelka. I read each and every article.

I also watch TV programs like NDTV which on occasions has some good stuff. Hence, I have also seen you live, so to speak. Some of what you say makes sense. Which is why your present article seems lacking in real politik.

As a piece of analysis your article is mistaken in its byzantine ways. Here is why :

1. Shortly after the general election when there was talk of the BJP separating from the RSS, Shri Balashankar, I believe, of the Organiser, made an acute observation: The BJP without the RSS is like  a corpse (either in the Deccan Herald, or Hindustan Times, I cannot recall which). I tend to agree with that assessment. If you want a loyal Opposition , then there is no way the BJP can forge ahead on its own. This is a given.

2. There are two interesting discussions on NDTV, in which Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad of the BJP, gave very cogent answers (this despite the anchor’s repeated interruptions !). One of the participants was Manish Tiwari of the Congress, quite subdued, unlike his usual loud flamboyant self, drowing out everybody else.Then there was a Malini Chatterji who seemed to think that nothing much else happened after her childhood days when she vaguely recalled remembering that Ram was born in Ayodhya !

3. But there was the other lady ( in ochre robes) whose name I cannot recall, who was quietly certain that while she and everybody else had gone to the dear departed, Lord Ram would still be around. North, South, East, West, up, down, Lord Ram is there. Even the outspoken Congress spokesperson was momentarily silenced. He rallied heroically around with talk of Law etc. but who was listening ! This gentleman is a lawyer, unfortunately  I cannot recall his name : Ashok something.

Hearing her talk I was reminded of what they said of Golda Meir that she was the only man in the Israeli cabinet. Poor Vikram Chandra, the anchor , did not have a  chance.

I agree with her. Rama is here to stay. The Hindu consciousness is soaked in the devotional poems of Valmiki and Tulasidas and Kamba and all the millions of everyday Hindus worship Rama as the incarnation of Vishnu. Can you with a straight face say that you have forgotten the Ramayana, despite that whisky drinking British friend of yours (your article in The Pioneer, about the Dubai fiasco) ? That friend pops up every now and then in your articles.

4. I urge you to go to Times Now and watch the interview that Shri Mohan Bhagat gave to Arnaub Goswami. The redoubtable, intrepid, aggressive Arnaub was subdued, by the end of the interview. A clear indication : once a Hindu always a Hindu !

Music doth indeed have power to charm the savage beast !

5. The stalwarts of VHP have come out with a statement which makes it clear that the Ayodhya issue is never going to go away for too long. I read the entire statement and was quite impressed with its clarity and cogency.

6. And here’s Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s statement at the Janata Party site :

” The Liberhan Commission after 17 years of deliberation has concluded that issues like building a Ram temple in Ayodhya cannot be settled in courts. Hence, a peaceful peoples’ movement to remove masjids from our sacred temples such as in Ayodhya, Mathura, and Varanasi is justified. Moreover, in 1994 a Constitution Bench in the Farooqui versus Union of India case has held that a mosque is not an essential part of Islamic religion and hence can be demolished as it is done periodically in Saudi Arabia to build roads.

Hence, for communal  harmony, the Muslim community must voluntarily clear out from all mosques built by demolishing temples during Mughal rule. Hindus will then build them new mosques on alternative sites. As I have tried to do as a Minister of Law and Justice in 1990-1991; the present UPA government must assist with this. Otherwise people will take the law into their own hands as on Dec. 6, 1992. “

Here again, I agree with the basic point : Ayodhya is not sacred to the Muslims, but it is to the Hindus, just as Kashi Viswanath is (Siva), or Mathura (Krishna).

Why not work for a consensus ?

Ironically, far from being a fast paced secular democracy, India is quite unique. Only here, do you find sants emerging suddenly and protesting the damming of the Ganga or the Congress government’s attempt to destroy Ram Setu and so on.

I hope you will not be offended by my frankness. Nothing is gained by silence. And, judging from your various pronouncements elsewhere I think both of us are interested in Bharat’s future.

Sincerely,

Dr. Vijaya Rajiva