January 22, 2025

The Ayodhya land dispute case is being heard in the Supreme Court. Land dispute cases take time. But the BJP, having made the promise of constructing the Ram Mandir to its voters, is in a fix. As the general elections approach, it wanted the apex court to fast-track the matter. But the court has refused to do so and has ordered that an appropriate bench will hear the same in January.

But this is not going to deter the Hindutva brigade. Already, there is a clamour for the government to enact a special law to facilitate the acquisition of the disputed land and construction of the temple. This amounts to changing the goal posts. The matter is being heard in court and both parties have agreed to abide by the decision. Hence, something as drastic as acquisition amounts to high handedness and cheating and is likely to create a lot of friction between both the communities.

Instead, the matter should be tackled at two levels. In the first, the law should be allowed to take its own course. Both parties should produce ownership documents and proof and try to convince the court. In the second, despite community level talks having failed in the past, there should be a renewed attempt by prominent Hindus to explore the line of bringing the Muslim community on board in allowing the construction of the temple, with a mosque being constructed at another spot nearby.

Historically, there is no doubt that the damaged mosque was constructed by Emperor Babar of the Mughal dynasty. There is also no doubt that Babar was not an indigenous ruler – he was an invader. It can be assumed that he could have razed a temple to construct the mosque. This assumption is based on the findings of the ASI and the expansionist tendencies of the then Muslim kings and their marauding armies. They used to treat adherents of all other religions as kafirs and tried to raze monuments of other religions from lands they conquered. Having assumed this, it does automatically give Hindus the right to raze the mosque and construct a temple in its place. But if the Muslim community agrees, the problem will be solved.

But efforts to convince the Muslims have failed in the past and are likely to fail again. So there is nothing much any law-abiding citizen or a registered political party can do other than wait for the decision of the court. Ideas such as a special law to acquire the land should be junked immediately if peace and harmony are to prevail. History is a great teacher. It reminds us what had happened in our country in the past. If we go around obliterating monuments of invaders, our future generations will live in the belief that we were always free. Should we allow our future generations to believe in falsehood? The Ram Mandir must be constructed if Hindus want it. But not by trampling upon the law or creating disharmony between communities.