| Historians
can continue to debate whether a temple, in fact, existed at the
site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya; whether it was, in fact, a Ram
temple; whether it was destroyed; or whether it had collapsed on its
own. Similarly, moralists and secularists can go on arguing that it
is not right to replace one place of worship by another, especially
as the foregoing issues have not been resolved. But this is not how
history moves and civilizational issues are settled.
Pertinent is the fact that for no
other site have Hindus fought so bitterly for so long with such
steadfastness as over Ramjanambhoomi in Ayodhya. There is no
rational explanation for this and it is futile to look for one. All
that is open to us is to grasp the fact and power of the mystery.
In all cultures and societies under
great stress flows in invisible undercurrent. It does not always
break surface. But when it does, it transforms the scene. This is
how events in Ayodhya should be seen. The Patal Ganga, of which all
Indians must have heard, has broken surface there. Human beings have
doubtless played a part in this surfacing. But witness the
remarkable fact that we do not know and, in fact, do not care who
installed the Ramlalla idol in the Babri structure and who demol-
ished the structure on 6 December 1992.
While almost everyone else in looking
for scapegoats, to me it seems that every known actor is playing his
or her allotted role in the vast drama that is being enacted. We
are, as it were, witnessing the enactment of a modern version of
Balmiki's Ramayana. |
