No one was found guilty in the destruction of the Babri Mosque as the court finally pronounced the verdict in the case earlier this year. This came as an evident sigh of relief to BJP veterans like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar, as they honoured the verdict by chanting “Jai Sri Ram” as many times as they could in their capacity.
Moreover, it was Congress that was portrayed as the greater villain for stoking a fire of secularism, as per its convictions. Vinay Katiyar lashed out at the Congress for encouraging the mindset of separatism in the country. In an NDTV interview with Sreenivasan Jain, he had confessed to coming up soon with an action plan for “sieges” on Mathura and Kashi. Katiyar deliberately ducked the question on being asked about the role of the karsewaks in the razing of Babri monument. Trying to shift the blame to Narasimha Rao’s Congress government, they were blamed for being responsible for the fall of the Kalyan Singh government in Uttar Pradesh.
My question to the staunch Hindutvadis is this: what will be the rank and role of the lower SCs, STs and OBCs in the de facto Hindu Rashtra?
How will the Hindu Rashtra ensure their rights, duties and privileges? What measures will be adopted to address and articulate their grievances? When will the constitution be amended if we were to call upon ourselves as a Hindu Rashtra proudly? If not for the representation of these castes, how will this De facto Hindu Rashtra promote equality and social justice to them? We can emulate Nepal as a Hindu nation under a Communist government and can take a lesson or two in our efforts to become a de facto Hindu Rashtra someday.
I believe if we are up for the moment, then we shouldn’t make any further delays. So what if the employment, healthcare and all are dwindling? Let it be for reasons beyond our grip and grasp as it’s time to give up on Western imports of Liberty and Secularism, right? I believe it may sound like a perfect satire to most and many around us. Arguably, the political inauguration of Narendra Modi in 2014 had already set the warning bells ringing. Erosion of civil rights and liberties, combined with the lowering of our obligations as dutiful citizens, was made complete.
Public institutions began to collapse one after another, including in the matters of who leads them. I doubt if this is an attempt to reconfigure and recast our political roles and lives. If we are becoming a testimony to it, and how it impacts our alliance with the state, we ought to take a call, as it is our Hinduness at stake here. Rescuing it from the onslaught of the Heroes of Hindutva must become our priority now, more than anything else.
But, only if we are ready to take up the task. Are we?