India On The Line
Why a newsletter on India? Why now?
Each generation has its defining moments; shaped by wars (or threat of wars), political upheaval, tribalism, fascism, economic crises, environmental disasters and technological nightmares. But some lucky ones also get to see democratic revolutions, civil disobedience, economic bridging, dismantling of hierarchies, artistic and cultural breakthroughs, and very importantly, boundary-defying humanity and compassion.
For my generation — and here I am talking about a subset, the Indian youth — one such moment has occurred. Sadly, of the former, sad kind. And calling it a moment feels inadequate. It feels like a crisis. An emergency. Not a political one as much as a moral one.
It truly feels like there is a pre-January 2024 and post-January 2024 India now. I am not talking on a societal level — the hate towards religious minorities in the country has been sickening for a while now — but on a deep personal level. The way a day in that month came to make visible so far closeted extremist beliefs, saw deepening of existing ethnonationalitic sentiments, saw lines drawn, camps formed, and sadly, strained friendships and for some, even familial relationships.
I know there will be friends and family who would disagree with me on this. Who think these are words of exaggeration, that there isn’t as much or any violence against Muslims or other religious minorities in India, or that some of this violence is even justified and warranted, and would take qualms with me defining their nationalistic beliefs as extremist. To them, probably it is my views that are extremist and out of place. And so, it is precisely for this reason that I urge you to read on and continue reading this newsletter and engage with me. I am writing here not because I wish to convert you, but because I wish to converse with you.
For those lucky ones, outside and in India, oblivious to what I was talking about when I said pre- and post-January 2024, it’s about a temple (a new one, and claims of existence of an old one), a mosque, a piece of land and a fight over whose god and religion and community it belongs to. We’ve seen a few fights over land and “rightful” ownership in history now, haven’t we? So, you probably know how it goes…
On 22nd January 2024, the Ram Mandir (temple) was inaugurated in Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The history of the site and dispute over it between Hindus and Muslims spans several centuries. Since the 16th century, the Babri Masjid (mosque), built during the Mughal emperor Babur’s reign, stood at the site. In 1992, a crowd of 150,000 Hindus gathered outside the Babri mosque to listen to speeches made by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political party that forms the Central government today, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an outfit that falls under the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is a Hindu right-wing outfit of which the BJP is also an extension. For the sake of simplicity, consider all them ideologue buddies.
Following the speeches by the BJP and VHP leaders, this mob stormed into the compound and destroyed the Babri mosque. Their reason? Before this mosque was built, and so they claimed, a temple stood in its place. And the place they said is the birthplace of Lord Rama, a Hindu god. Post the destruction of the mosque, the mob of ‘kar sevaks’, religious volunteers (but in this case, rather violent than benevolent service givers), went and attacked Muslim neighbourhoods in Ayodhya, killing several Muslims in their homes. These incidents incited riots in various parts of the country, including a particularly bloody riot in Mumbai (then known as Bombay). In Bombay alone, 900 people were killed. And in all, 2000 people lost their lives following the mosque demolition in 1992. To say it was a tragic day doesn’t even begin to capture the horrors of what unfolded in the streets of India.
But the dispute over the site didn’t begin in 1992. It goes back to mid 1850s, when India was under British colonial rule. At the time too, Hindus and Muslims fought over the site. The colonial government placed a wall, divided the compound and gave two different parts to Hindus and Muslims respectively. Matters did not get revolved as we can tell by more recent history we’ve already recounted.
In 1934, there were clashes again between the two groups, and parts of the mosque were damaged. In 1949, again, there was an attempt to take hold of the mosque, and idols of Lord Rama were placed in the mosque. After this, several lawsuits were filed by various parties on both sides. It is also crucial to know that prior to the bloody 1992 riots, in 1990, then BJP president Lal Krishna Advani took a Rathyatra, a chariot tour, from Gujarat to Ayoydhya, demanding the building of a Ram Temple at the site of the Babri mosque. This campaign led to protests and riots broke out in several states. The buildup of this movement is what we came to see in 1992 when the mosque was destroyed and thousands of people died. In fact Lal Krishna Advani was one of the key speakers that day, when the mosque was demolished.
The lawsuits that were filed, after decades, came to culminate in a judgement by the High Court in Allahabad in 2010. This judgement divided the site in three parts and gave it to the three respective parties that had filed lawsuits; two-thirds to the two Hindu petitioners in the case and one third to the Muslim petitioner. If only things stopped there.
All three parties then filed an appeal to this decision, and the Supreme Court suspended the decision of the High Court. In 2019, a five-judge bench was set up to hear the case. The Supreme Court in its verdict handed out the site entirely to the Hindus, paving the way for the temple to be built. Muslims were to be given a separate piece of land elsewhere for the construction of a mosque.
And so we reach the present, where a temple now, partly, has been built at the site. A temple that has costed about ₹18,000 million. And in January this year, the temple was inguarated (despite not being complete), timing it before the national elections that began last month in India.
So yes, anyone familiar with the history of the site, knows that this temple has come with a lot of dispute, hate and bloodshed over the years. And yet, there was a certain historical amnesia that I saw when it came to these ugly bits of the story on the temple inauguration day. Celebrations rolled like we as a nation had achieved something big. No, we didn’t end poverty. No, we didn’t tackle inequality. No, we didn’t end the water crisis that several states are facing. We built a temple.
Throughout the day, I just watched all of this celebration unfold. I saw several of my Hindu friends putting up statuses on their social media handles, chanting ‘jai shree ram’ (all hail lord Rama; something that now minorities in India are being harassed into chanting). And also, declaring victory. Victory for who, I kept thinking and I still don’t know. I saw a couple of posts criticising the celebrations, but that was the extent of any differing voices. Many, I am sure stayed silent than wanting to be a social media warrior over this, which is understandable.
As for me, I was extremely sad the whole day. The only thing I did post at some point was a plea for compassion. All I could think: What would it be like if I was a Muslim in India today who woke up to this? [And there is a reason I am explaining what I posted here, which I normally wouldn’t do.] My instagram story reminded friends that 2000 people had died in 1992 over the mosque demolition. That the riots we saw were horrendous and bloody, and that there was a certain amnesia around this. I asked those celebrating that day to introspect and think deeply about what they were actually celebrating.
I absolutely did not get any hate messages, and no one even debated me. This was my personal Instagram. Some people liked my story. I was thankful to see they were there. And that was about it as far as any engagement with that goes. But many weeks later (and this is why this whole IG story bit is important), I learned that a friend of mine had told our mutual friend that my IG story was “bullshit”. I learned they went on to say that “the killing of 2000 people is fine, because people die everyday, so what?” I obviously am quoting someone quote someone, so I guess there is a level of paraphrasing here. But it was conveyed to me that this person thought the deaths were justified, or at least were not an issue to make such a fuss about now. I heard this and what I felt was not rage, but numbness. We were not debating or disagreeing over facts anymore. This just reinforced in me that we indeed are fighting a moral battle: one about which lives matter.
To me, all life is life. And so, the day the Ram temple was inaugurated, it did feel like I was in mourning. I think there were many mourning the death of secularism in India. I think I was mostly mourning the loss of compassion. And friendships. Seemed like the bigger death to me.
So I thought, I should write to these friends, right? Something here is broken, between us, and in our society. Let us talk, and let’s learn to love each other like before. I would like that. And I do believe, eventually, we would build this love into something we can muster for everyone not just each other.
These days, I have started taking refuge in this scripture that my father holds dear, and for years has been signing off his emails with:
Yasthu sarvani bhutani aathmany eva anupasyathi
Sarva bhuteshu cha aathmaanam tatho na vijugupsate.One who sees all beings in own self
And sees own self in all beings.
One does not hate thereafter.- Isa Upanishad
So in the spirit of love, I write about India. And in the spirit of love, I ask you to read. In the spirit of love, I ask you to be patient and listen; even if you totally disagree with me and think I am mad. In the spirit of love, I ask you to be critical and speak up. In the spirit of love, I ask you to move beyond in your minds. And I promise to do these things with you. To love, and a growing love. To India, and to all people everywhere. All of you are mine. May I be yours.
And here’s to hoping that the tide will change. And that for all the terrible things that we suffer, there would be a wave of good we all will build.
I leave you here with a song from the Tamil film ‘Bombay’, which was about the 1992 riots. Quite topical. While this is not my favourite track from the film, it does go more with the theme of the piece; even if it is a bit sensationalist and sentimental in tone! But yes, all the tracks in this movie are an absolute classic. Not to add, Tamilians will know the lyrics to most of these songs by heart, and would recognise these songs immediately from the bgm. And so would many Hindi speakers given how popular some of these songs became in Hindi too. So indeed the songs are boundary defying in many ways.
And the music is composed by none other than the genius A.R.Rahman, a man who has sung and made popular some of the top tracks associated with the idea of India. Rahman also happens to be Muslim, who has had his own interesting journey with religion and faith. I still remember how big a deal it was when he won Oscars for his music in the film Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, with a track from the film winning Best Original Score, becoming India’s first Oscar in the song category. I remember watching it on TV with my family. Everyone celebrated him as their own. So in the spirit of making everyone our own, outside the bounds of religion and other lines, listen in.
With much love,
Manasa