Swarajya Logo
Swarajya Logo
Politics States Economy Society Business Culture Infra Defence World Books Ideas Science Technology Heritage Archives Legal Movies Sports
  • Our Views
    Politics States Economy Society Business Culture Infra Defence World Books Ideas Science Technology Heritage Archives Legal Movies Sports
  • Magazine
  • Store

About Swarajya

Swarajya is a publication by Kovai Media Private Limited.

Swarajya - a big tent for liberal right of centre discourse that reaches out, engages and caters to the new India.

editor@swarajyamag.com

Useful Links

  • About Us
  • Subscriptions Support
  • Editorial Philosophy
  • Press Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Code of Conduct
  • Plagiarism Policy
  • Refund & Cancellation Policy

Useful Links

  • About Us
  • Subscriptions Support
  • Editorial Philosophy
  • Press Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Code of Conduct
  • Plagiarism Policy
  • Refund & Cancellation Policy

Participate

  • Contact Us
  • Write for us
  • Style Guide
  • Jobs

Stay Connected

  • Artboard 2 Copy 6Created with Sketch.
    Artboard 2 Copy 10Created with Sketch.
    Artboard 2 Copy 7Created with Sketch.
    Artboard 2 Copy 9Created with Sketch.
  • Andriod Logo
  • IOS Logo

Politics

Ayodhya: Why 1989-1990 Was An Important Period

Aravindan NeelakandanMonday, November 13, 2023 8:33 am IST
Lal Krishna Advani during his rath yatra (Picture via Twitter).
Lal Krishna Advani during his rath yatra (Picture via Twitter).
Lal Krishna Advani during his rath yatra (Picture via Twitter).
  • This is the third piece in the 'Ayodhya 2024' series that Aravindan Neelakandan is writing in the build-up to the inauguration of the Shri Rama Janmabhoomi temple.
  • In 1989, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) adopted a resolution which called for the construction of a temple at Ayodhya at the spot where the sacred idols of Ram Lalla were placed.

    This move came in response to the transformation of a potentially local matter into a national issue by Islamist fundamentalist organizations, which called for a Republic Day boycott.

    The ruling party, the Congress, rather than coming down on the Islamists, aimed to appease the fundamentalist elements within the Muslim community.

    In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi started the Congress' Lok Sabha campaign from Ayodhya as a symbolic gesture of passive appeasement toward Hindus, referencing Ram Rajya in a speech purported to be written by Mani Shankar Aiyer. The Nehruvian approach aimed to make symbolic gestures to Hindus while actively promoting political Islamism through its version of secularism.

    In line with this, historians associated with the Congress establishment released a pamphlet titled 'The Political Abuse of History'. Subsequently, the pamphlet was featured multiple times in the January-February 1990 edition of Social Scientist magazine and various prominent English publications.

    Endorsed by a notable group of 25 historians, this concise pamphlet, spanning fewer than ten pages, became the go-to reference for the English elite media and for Islamic fundamentalists when it came to the Ayodhya issue.

    One of the prime claims of the pamphlet was that there was no archaeological proof that the present-day Ayodhya was Valmiki’s Ayodhya. Instead, it was shown as a Buddhist site. According to the pamphlet, a Gupta king in fifth century CE renamed Saket as Ayodhya. It acknowledged, with reluctance, the existence of local legends mentioning Vikramaditya rediscovering the lost Ayodhya, but dismissed it as an attempt to attribute religious sanctity to a city lacking it.

    If present day Ayodhya was known as Saketa before the fifth century, then the Ayodhya of Valmiki's Ramayana was fictional. If so, the identification of Rama janmabhumi in Ayodhya today becomes a matter of faith, not of history.

    Adding another jab at Hindus, the historians asserted that unlike that of Rama, the birthplace of Buddha was historical. Even two centuries after Buddha, Ashoka managed to place a stone inscription there. Despite its name being Ayodhya, it was primarily associated with Buddhism and Jainism. Moreover, they claimed that 'the cult of Rama seems to have become popular [only] from the thirteenth century.'

    The historians claimed there was no archaeological evidence to suggest the existence of any temple at the site of the Babri structure. In summary, the historians assured Islamists that the Hindus lacked a case at Ayodhya.

    Islamist fundamentalists were so convinced that Syed Shahabuddin, a fundamentalist politician and intellectual, openly declared in his magazine Muslim India that if it was proven the Babri structure was built by forcefully destroying a standing temple, he would personally demolish it. It's important to note that this wasn't a case of innocent Islamists being misled by Marxists. While innocent Muslims may have been duped, the Islamists were not.

    In a well-coordinated and symbiotic campaign, leftist and Islamist radical organizations translated the pamphlet into almost all regional languages, spreading it across the nation. The bottom line was – the Hindus have no case in Ayodhya.

    The truth

    However, the JNU historians did not anticipate the Sangh Parivar organizations responding to their propaganda with empirical evidence. In fact, they hadn't anticipated the Hindu side being able to respond at all.

    But truth has its own ways of coming out.

    Maybe in their conceit, but the JNU historians had effectively committed themselves to an empirically verifiable statement—that there was no archaeological evidence for a temple.

    In this stance, they had relied on the report of B.B. Lal, who had carried out archaeological excavations at Ayodhya and had claimed, based on his report, that there was no human inhabitation at the place during the time Valmiki claimed the events of Ramayana happened. But the very same report of Prof. Lal had also claimed archaeological proof for the existence of a temple beneath the Babri structure.

    Gradually, the Left's claims of academic supremacy and the derogatory portrayal of Ram devotees in the English media began to lose credibility. The sophisticated leftist historian appeared disingenuous, while the seemingly unsophisticated Rama devotees from the Hindi heartland had scholars and archaeologists supporting their claims with empirical and scientifically rigorous archaeology.

    Hindu unity: a pipe dream?

    Meanwhile, the December of 1989 saw the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi's government and the swearing-in of V.P.Singh. His was a minority government supported by 85 members of Parliament of the BJP and 42 MPs of CPI(M). From merely two MPs in 1984 the BJP had gone to 85. But it had not yet taken up Ayodhya and made it the centre of its politics.

    With Kashmir descending into Islamism and the Ayodhya issue gathering steam, VP Singh realised that he would not able to please everybody all the time. He wanted to go down with guns blazing. He came up with the implementation of the Mandal Commission.

    Increasing Hindu consolidation was the backbone of the BJP. If one was to show the BJP, Hindu consolidation had to be prevented. What would be a better way to break Hindu consolidation than caste?

    When V.P.Singh announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, no party could oppose it in principle. The Mandal issue started agitating the Hindu society. The community seemed to split into caste-based voting blocs.

    Against the visuals of upper caste youths setting themselves ablaze in the streets, Hindu unity looked like a dream.

    The yatra of unity

    The BJP supported the Mandal Commission. At the same time, it demanded that the a temple be built at the Rama janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. On September 12, 1990, Lal Krishna Advani declared his intention to commence a 'Rath Yatra' from Somnath, a historical site where the temple was reconstructed after Indian Independence, culminating the yatra in Ayodhya.

    A 63-year-old Advani started the Rath Yatra on 25 September, 1990 from Somnath, on the 74th birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

    It was easy to construct a binary of Mandal versus Kamandal but looking back, Advani's Rath Yatra played a role in steering Hindu society beyond the Mandal Commission. Despite the implementation of reservations, it didn't fragment Hindu society as feared. Instead, it broadened the socio-economic foundation for Hindu political unity, marking the assimilation of Mandal into the fabric of Hindutva politics over time.

    This is the third piece in the 'Ayodhya 2024' series that Aravindan Neelakandan is writing in the build-up to the inauguration of the Shri Rama Janmabhoomi temple. We will be publishing one article every week. You can read rest of the pieces in the series here.

    Tags
    Ayodhya 2024

    Comments ↓

    An Appeal...


     

    Dear Reader,

     

    As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.

     

    Our business model is you and your subscription.  And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.

     

    We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.

     

    Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.

    Get Swarajya in your inbox.


    Magazine


    Swarajya Magazine Cover Image
    Merchandise

    Merchandise


      Politics

      'Cash For Query' Row: Ethics Panel Report Recommending Mahua Moitra's Expulsion To Be Tabled In Lok Sabha Today

      'Cash For Query' Row: Ethics Panel Report Recommending Mahua Moitra's Expulsion To Be Tabled In Lok Sabha Today

      Swarajya Staff
      39m

      'Crooked View That Bhartiya Culture Can Be Promoted Only When Hindu Marries Muslim': Kerala Muslim Leader As He Slams CPM

      Bhuvan Krishna
      17h

      No Question Of ‘Equitable Treatment’ To US, Canada In Alleged Assassination Plots Against Khalistani Terrorists: EAM Jaishankar

      Swarajya Staff
      19h

      Economy

      Enough Of Big Bang Reforms? No Major Announcements In Next Budget, "Wait Till July 2024", Says Nirmala Sitharaman

      Enough Of Big Bang Reforms? No Major Announcements In Next Budget, "Wait Till July 2024", Says Nirmala Sitharaman

      Nishtha Anushree
      19h

      ₹58,378 Crores! Govt Set To Open Taps On Additional Welfare Spending With 2024 In Mind

      Swarajya News Staff
      1d

      India Anticipated To Be Fastest Growing In Next Three Years, Set to Become Third Largest Economy By 2030: S&P

      Nishtha Anushree
      3d

      Defence

      Indian Air Force's C-17 Globemaster-III Transport Aircraft Successfully Drops DRDO-Developed Heavy Airdrop Platform

      Indian Air Force's C-17 Globemaster-III Transport Aircraft Successfully Drops DRDO-Developed Heavy Airdrop Platform

      Swarajya Staff
      54m

      India's Strategic Forces Command Conducts Training Launch Of Agni-1 Short Range Ballistic Missile

      Ujjwal Shrotryia
      15h

      Six More Pakistani Terrorists Added To Kill-List As 'Mysterious Shootings' By 'Unknown Gunmen' Continue Unabated

      Swarajya Staff
      16h

      World

      PM Modi Can't Be Forced Into Acting Against National Interests Of India: Putin

      PM Modi Can't Be Forced Into Acting Against National Interests Of India: Putin

      Swarajya Staff
      2h

      "Would Want Them To Face Legal System": MEA On Pakistan-Based Terrorists Being Killed By 'Unknown Gunmen'

      Nishtha Anushree
      16h

      Indian Ambassador Met Eight Navy Veterans Sentenced To Death In Qatar, Two Appeal Hearings Till Now: MEA

      Nishtha Anushree
      17h

      Culture

      ‘Garba Of Gujarat’ Declared As Intangible Heritage By UNESCO

      ‘Garba Of Gujarat’ Declared As Intangible Heritage By UNESCO

      Arun Kumar Das
      1d

      Gujarat's Garba Is Now In List Of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

      Swarajya News Staff
      1d

      'Celebrate At Home': Champat Rai Of Ram Janambhoomi Trust Urges Hindus Not To Visit Ayodhya On 22 January

      Bhuvan Krishna
      3d
      States

      infrastructure


      Arun Kumar Das
      1

      Make-In-India Initiatives Are Driving Growth In Manufacturing Sector, Says Ashwini Vaishnaw

      3 Mins Read
      Arun Kumar Das
      2

      Further Delay In Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project As Japanese Consortium Seeks More Time To Submit Rolling Stock Bids

      2 Mins Read
      Amit Mishra
      3

      Gujarat Government Partners With AAI For Building 11 New Airports, PM Modi's Hometown Also Under Consideration

      2 Mins Read
      Amit Mishra
      4

      Mumbai: Six Bidders Evince Interest To Build Rs 16,621 Crore Coastal Road Extension, Linking Versova To Dahisar

      2 Mins Read