Letter to BS: Vote for BJP = Vote for Ram temple -- That is Sangh's plan!

The Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti called on the government to bring in a law or Ordinance for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. It could not have timed better from the Sangh Parivar’s perspective. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a 10-year moratorium on communal issues on his assumption of power, the temple construction is back on the centre-stage of national politics months before the general elections. The gameplan is to make a vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a vote for the Ram temple and vice-versa.
 
It is worrying that Hindutva outfits are virulently attacking the Supreme Court for adjourning the case. It is not the apex court’s remit to look into theological and archaeological proof to establish the site as the birthplace of Ram. It is decided based only on the title to the land. Implicit in wanting the judiciary to take decisions on the basis of Hindu sentiment is a disdain for the rule of law.

 
The threat to launch a 1992-like Ayodhya movement is a cause for alarm. While the BJP is in power in Delhi and Lucknow, how far it will succeed in mobilising people and deflecting attention from the bread-and-butter issues of politics remains to be seen. The move to bring in a Bill for building the temple is a ploy to polarise the parties and MPs and brand those who do not support it anti-Hindu in this election season.
 

G David Milton  Kanyakumari
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