ON THE EVE OF THE VERDICT

December 6, 1992: I remember I was cycling in the neighbourhood in the afternoon when the news came trickling in Babri Masjid had been demolished. As a school student, the words like Babri Masjid, karsevaks, Viswa Hindu Parishad were alien to me. I read them in newspaper. The same had taught me a little about Ram Mandir movement. But at that age it did not touch me. Later on the television we all watched those visuals of karsevaks hammering an old mosque getting on top of it. The riot followed. Bandhs crippled our life, examinations were postponed and there was Hinduttva bashing everywhere. I remember it took over a week to normalize the ‘bandh’ like situation.

18 years later, today we are all apprehensive of the reaction the Ayodhya title suit verdict will elicit from the Indian people. There is no doubt that the nation which is keeping its fingers crossed are carrying the baggage of the 1992 and, keeping that in mind, we are trying to diffuse our inner tension by saying the nation has moved forward, the young generation is not inclined to react violently, appealing to the people for peace and calm and there is scope of appealing before the apex court if one party is not satisfied with the judgment. We are reacting in the manner for the reason that the situation seems like the lull before the storm. As the actors involved in the 1992 incident and the resultant riots are all silent, not disclosing their cards on how they will ignite the people.

Amidst all these apprehension the big puzzle remains if, after almost two decades, the people will react in 1992-way after the jury is out, in whosever way the verdict goes. Many vouch for the ‘progressive young India’, who would apparently be not swayed away by the religious and communal sentiments, rather restrict themselves on social networking sites, blogs, and chatrooms voicing their opinions (remember the government has banned ‘bulk SMS’!) Still there are worries why the administration is not taking any chance. First, to my understanding, there is a latent inherent communal feeling among all of us and no one can deny this fact even if someone proclaims to be secular or atheist. Second, there are actors in the religious and political community which may try to incite the people to the benefit of their interest; thereby polarizing the nation once again. If both are exploited by any section of any religious communities, we are heading for a bad time.

Fortunately in 2010 there is no face of the politico-religious movement either from the Hindus or from the Muslims, unlike in those days of Babri demolition when LK Advani was leading Rathayatra, Ashok Singhal or Praveen Togadias of VHP/RSS were organizing Ram janmabhoomi movement. It is positive but has negative impact as well. It doesn’t require only a leader or a movement to turn people violent in such situation. It can go uncontrollable even if there is any leader (as the BJP claims what happened in Ayodhya in 1992 was not under the control of the leadership).

At the end of the day, it will be a test case for the Indian nation, how the political and religious leaders go beyond their petty interest and how the young India reacts to the Temple-Mosque issue after the verdict is pronounced. The fear is still the worst riot of the decade happens in Left-ruled Bengal’s Deganga, a small bloc in North 24 Parganas district!