By Sushil Kutty
The Congress is in a dilemma. Hamlet would have escaped the vice (as in grip). But the Congress is stuck – to attend or not to attend the Ram Mandir pran-pratishta on January 22? The Congress has the chance to make it an event to remember as no such dilemma is wracking the Hindus who have been voting Congress election after election. On the contrary, “Ram toh Sab ka hain” is deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche and only extreme elements of the Hindu right consider “Ram” as exclusive to the Sangh Parivar alone.
Come to think of it, there is a degree of pride in the acknowledgment that comes with a political cost – that if the Congress stands distinct with an inclusive stand on ‘Ram’, the party’s Muslim vote-bank will desert the Congress in droves and regional parties like the Samajwadi Party, which is part of the INDIA bloc, will get all the Muslim votes. Remember the Congress is the only national party which had at one time proudly proclaimed itself a “Muslim party”.
Yet, there came a time when Muslims started voting for regional parties. The Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal. Even the Janata Dal-United of Nitish Kumar and the Janata Dal-Secular of former Prime Minister HD Devegowda. These have been beneficiaries of Muslim votes, much of which had shifted from the Congress to these alternatives. The once mighty mainstay for Muslims had been reduced to a shadow.
Without the Muslims voting for the Congress, the grand old party will remain an outcast. And many of the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc parties would wish they had joined the BJP at Lord Ram’s pran-pratishtha. Sometimes momentous decisions are taken without considering the potentially very damaging political outcomes.
This one, the one about the Ram Mandir consecration, will perhaps be the most damaging to the Congress if the party remains unsure of its stand. For, this would be for the first time in 500-plus years that 80 percent of the population has decided that it will not be treated like they were only 15-20 percent of the population. Guess what, it would be like the Maldives situation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lakshadweep visit. Maldivians are now begging to be returned to their earlier favourite tourist destination status.
That is right, the Congress must decide right here and now. It does not have the luxury of postponing the decision. Imagine if the MARCOs had arrived on the scene after the piracy on the high seas? The Congress has already wasted time-enough to launch a thousand ships. In fact, political parties that haven’t gauged the change in perception of the majority community should forthwith get off their moral high-horse. For the Hindus, such an event comes once in 5000 years.
The Hindu majority is considering themselves blessed to be born and alive at such an opportune time, in this time and age. The Congress, caught in the Catch-22, shouldn’t complain later. The Prime Minister’s most recent visit to Ayodhya should be a reminder to the Congress. The Prime Minister labelled the forthcoming ‘pran-pratishta’ a “historic moment”, asking people throughout India to light special lamps called “Shri Ram Jyoti” in their homes.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is calling the Ram Mandir pran-pratishtha “an occasion of joy, pride, and self-satisfaction for crores of Sanatan believers”. The man who is following in the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Ram Mandir India’s “Rashtra Mandir” and befitting for India’s cultural, spiritual, and social unity, and nearly 80 percent of Indians love such talk. The consecration ceremony will be “unforgettable”, the Yogi declared, gauging the religious fervour in the people.
How many know that in the Hindi heartland, those Hindu women in the family way are asking their doctors and hospitals to time their “delivery” to coincide with the January 22 ‘pran-prathista’. And it is these people that the INDIA bloc is deliberately alienating. How wise is that? There are among INDIA bloc leaders those who are in a dilemma. Many of them – the leading lights among them –have been marked “anti-Sanatan”. With the consecration of the Ram Mandir, the BJP will fulfill a poll promise, what has the Congress party accomplished for the Hindu right?
The Congress speaks in different voices. The Congress top leadership is uncertain, unsure and in two minds. Only Sonia Gandhi and Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge have been invited. They haven’t decided so far. They are two specific cases of dilemma, Catch-22 and indecisiveness though it’s being conveyed that Sonia Gandhi is “very positive on the matter”, whatever that means.
The Congress does not like the BJP hype around the event. Some Congress leaders are asking where is the BJP’s copyright on the Ram Mandir? “Who are they (Opposition) to invite opposition leaders to the event? Do they hold a copyright on Lord Ram? They are saying that the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust is sending out invites. Whose trust is this? Does it have anything to do with the BJP?”
With questions like these, the Congress has dug itself into a hole. For, with every objection, the Congress is potentially losing votes. Statements that certain Congress leaders would be at the Ram Temple consecration even if not invited is not helping the Congress. “If the invitation comes or not, we shall go there” is too little, too late. And cries of “mixing politics and religion advances RSS agenda” are also not making a difference. There is still time for the Congress to give the BJP a scare. Besides, the Congress itself requires a dose or two of ‘pran-pratishta’. (IPA )
Follow our WhatsApp channel
