Today the verdict in the Ayodhya title suit is due to be delivered at 3.30 pm. Even as India looks forward for long awaited peace on this highly contentious issue, security alerts have been issued nation wide. Many organizations are sending their employees back home before the verdict. Schools and colleges have been closed, bulk SMSes have been banned and security forces have been deployed in large numbers in 'sensitive' areas. Looking at all these precautions it seems as if the Indian government is preparing for an unannounced war of sorts.
One can understand the fear. It is deep rooted from the days when Babri Masjid was demolished, when blasts ripped apart the financial hub of India and thousands of people suffered death, loss and other atrocities. This saga of violence continued with the riots and bomb blasts that assailed our country again and again. The terror and bloodshed that had started from the times of Partition continued unabated over the years and now we are living in a world where terrorism has become synonymous with normal life. We are no longer surprised to hear of a bomb blast; we condemn it but accept the occurrence. It was probably the Mumbai attacks of 2008 that finally woke us up to this apathy and we united in one voice to decry this horrific state of affairs. Yet nothing changed. We raged, we protested, we voted but till this date that case, and others, is languishing in the clutches of legal red tape.
But lets come back to Ayodhya. Babri Masjid was built in the 16th century by a Mughal nobleman. Even if there indeed was a temple there before that, is it really worth fighting over now? How can it help us in growing as a nation? If today a Ram Mandir is built at the Ayodhya site will it help to eradicate the corruption that is rampant in our country? If Babri Masjid is rebuilt, will it solve the problems of poverty and crime in India? Better a hospital for the under privileged be built there or even a memorial commemorating those who had lost their lives in the riots and other terror activities. Faith in God comes from the heart, not from edifices of stone and mortar. Whether we fold our hands in front of the idol of Shri Ram or offer our prayers to Allah, its the reverence that we carry in our mind and soul that counts. Let us not make religion a political issue any more.
My fellow Indians, today is the day of judgement, not only for Ayodhya but for us all as well. Will we get a verdict that will have the potential to stoke the fires of communal disharmony or will India finally take a decisive step towards restoring peace within her boundaries? And can we, the children of this soil, show that we have learnt a lesson of peace and tolerance from the bloodied history of our land or will we be willing to inflict again the scars and wounds that have plagued our motherland for the past 18 years? Let us wait and see.
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