They were fighting for building the temple, and she was happy at the thought.
Because she had already chosen a spot where she would sit and beg.
Mohan Bhagwat who doesn’t need any introduction was quoted clamouring sometime later in this year in the month of November that “Only Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya”. His words sure heated the atmosphere and was a great disappointment to the winter which due to global warming was already struggling hard to mark its presence. However, his authority over the matter was challenged by the Hindu religious leader Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati who said that no political party or for that matter the government of India can claim to make temple because Indian is a secular country. Now that was a remark with the constitutional undertone, though it was factually incorrect. He would know if he were a constitutional law student. He also discredited Bhagwat’s statement who authoritatively had claimed earlier that everyone who was born in India was a Hindu, and Muslims are no exceptions to it. According to the religious leader, if Bhagwat’s claim was adhered to it would jolt the very structure of the society because a Hindu is the one who has faith in Vedas. And because Muslims have faith in Quran and Christian have faith in Bible they can not be treated as Hindus. Impressive enough but again it was factually incorrect.
Faith is one right which is constitutionally protected and is probably among one of few constitutional rights which has been protected with burning zeal.
Faith in sense of religion has been defined as “strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.” Allow me to dumb it down, what you do not know or what you can not know through any means you are compelled to believe or disbelieve it i.e. you only believe something which you can not know because if you come to know that thing you would be one step forward. Belief is the first step, the reason is the second and final step is knowing. You can not skip any stair on the staircase. For eg. Most of us have not seen ghosts except for some lucky* ones, those who have not seen ghosts either say ‘I believe in ghost’ or otherwise with an air of bravery they say ‘I do not believe in ghosts’. But the lucky ones (sarcasm intended) who have seen the ghost are not in dilemma anymore because they have the evidence of ghost stored in their memory. Hence Faith is actually a state of suspended dilemma, where knowledge is a state of peace.
Well coming back to the comment of Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati that Hindus are the one who has faith in Vedas. Sir, given your stature I would respectfully like to detract from your ‘opinion’ about Hindus because I believe its little misinformed. Hindu firstly is not a religious designation because Hinduism is not a religion. The religion that exists in India is “Shanatana Dharma” though the western interpretation of our history has equated it with the term “Hindu” which we accepted unopposed (our misfortune). To throw some more light, etymologically ‘Hindu‘ is not Sanskrit rather it originates from the Persian word ‘Hind’ which was later converted to ‘Hindu’ by Urdu speaking diaspora. Originally Hindu was used for people who inhabited in the Hind region (Indian Subcontinent) as the Persian called it. So factually Mohan Bhagwat was not wrong, however, given his political leaning, his intentions are sure liable to be questioned.
To further clarify, those who believe in the ideology Shanatan Dharma and those who even remotely got the chance to get acquainted with the ideology ingrained in Vedas would know that we are not the land of believers we are the land of seekers. Which Arjun was. Which Gautam Buddha was. Which Mahavir was. Which Ashoka was. Here I quote one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time Swami Sadhguru, who said in 2015 “We have always been a land of seekers – seekers of truth and liberation. When you are a seeker, you are not aligned to any particular thing; you are aligned to the life process within you, and that never goes wrong.” This is the essence of our religion and this is what is protected by Article 25 of our constitution – Freedom of Conscience. Vedas are not something to repose our faith upon. Its something which tells how to repose your faith on something.
I would like to conclude here with a humble request to all the religious leaders, one thing you can do is help us put faith in humanity as a religion, but I know this is like asking the gods for a piece of heaven. So I would request you a simpler thing, please try not to adulterate our religions.