Ayodhya: Lallu Singh Is In War Mode

Pick of the day!

Dear readers,

Today's two stories traverse the Ramayana Path - Ayodhya to Lanka. While the first one is about a euphoric electoral campaign, second one is a cause of concern for Hindus.

Read on!

Ayodhya: Lallu Singh Is In War Mode

While PM Modi representing Varanasi has symbolics in multitudes, Ayodhya holds prime importance when it comes to BJP's rise to the centre of Indian politics.

With Ram Mandir's Pran Prathishtha on January 22, one would think the votes in the city are in BJP's kitty. But that is not enough for Lallu Singh.

BJP's candidate from the 'Faizabad' constituency (the district has been renamed to Ayodhya), Singh is not taking any chances, says Sumati Mehrishi in this ground report.

"He is in war mode," she says.

Across Ayodhya, the perception is that there is no moment bigger for the BJP, electorally, than 20 May, when BJP is expected to pull in its largest-ever tally of votes.

• Three faces are at the centre of it all: Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath, and Lallu Singh.

• Singh is bent on making the BJP emerge as the singular force with a bigger margin than 2019.

• While party workers say that caste politics won't affect BJP's prospects, Singh is more receptive and says, "It does leave an impact."

• While Yadav votes still lean towards Samajwadi Party, Lallu Singh contends that he has never had any caste-based bias.

One thing that comes across about Singh is his accessibility to his constituents.

• Rajkumar Yadav, a shopkeeper, says, "he is always available, accessible and listens to people."

• Sumati Mehrishi unpacks BJP and Lallu Singh's campaign that runs from BJP's office in Faizabad which resembles a meticulous laboratory.

• Take a peek into the campaign that involves Kirtans and a super active Mahila Morcha.

Decline Of Hindu Population In Sri Lanka Is A Pressing Concern

Concerns regarding the demographic changes that EAC-PM's working paper revealed, are not limited to India.

While decline in the majority population in India is a reason for concern, decline in the minority Hindu population in the neighbouring countries is also distressing.

Let us look at Sri Lanka where between 1950 and 2015, the population of Hindus declined by 5% while that of the Buddhist majority rose by 5%.

This could be attributed to various reasons:

• wars against LTTE in the north and the east where Tamils mostly live (Hindus in Sri Lanka are mostly Tamils),

• migration to other countries, and

• transfer of plantation Tamils to India in the 1960s.

However, during post-war years of the relative peace the Hindu population should have thrived.

Also, Sri Lanka is not a theocracy like Islamic countries of Pakistan or Bangladesh, though Buddhism has the foremost place in its Constitution.

Then what gives?

• An ethnic divide still remains, albeit at a lesser level than the LTTE years and Hindus have to contend with Sinhala-Buddhist domination.

• New Buddhist sites and shrines have been coming up in Tamil areas in recent years

• Access to Hindu temples is being controlled under the name of archaeological research.

• There have also been incidents of vandalism in Hindu temples.

• Even when the war against LTTE ended more than a decade ago, the Sri Lankan army still allegedly possesses a lot of land belonging to Tamils.

What can and must India do? While cordial relations with the island country are crucial, govt has to be more assertive when it comes to the plight of Hindus.

• K Annamalai, BJP's Tamil Nadu president called the decline in Hindu population 'alarming' during an event organised by British Tamils Forum in the UK Parliament.

• However, similar consciousness has to be developed at the highest echelons of power.

• The conversation must not be confined to the general welfare of Tamils or the just full implementation of 13th Amendment.

• While people's voice matters, the government has to play the lead role.

The issue has to move beyond one state i.e. Tamil Nadu.

The awareness in rest of the country is very limited. If there's a larger backlash against unfair treatment meted to Lankan Tamils, the pressure to make course-correct would be greater.

• Indian Hindus, especially Tamil Hindus, should be encouraged to visit Sri Lanka in larger numbers.

• While Indians are the largest source of foreign tourists in Sri Lanka, they mostly visit the tourist hubs located in the west and south.

• Visits to Thirukonamalai Koneswaram Shiva temple in Trincomalee or the Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna must increase, akin to Sri Lankan Tamils visiting Indian temples in Rameswaram and Sabarimala.

• Events like a ‘Jaffna Tamil Sangamam’ could be organised on the lines of Kashi Tamil Sangamam.

Sri Lankan Hindus are an extension of Dharma in the lands beyond India. Ensuring their survival and betterment is a civilisational duty towards our Dharmic kin.

When Tamils in Sri Lanka protested against the Supreme Court verdict regarding entry of women in Sabarimala - that was a reinforcement of this kinship.

- Anmol N Jain