Hum Sab Ayodhya

Ayodhya—Righteous Rule

It is the quest for a homeland that  brings me back to eastern UP— the mud huts,  haystacks, wheat and mustard fields, a landscape I grew up with.  By now  the wheat has been cut, fields lie fallow waiting for rain but green mango kaeries  ripen in orchards. But like elsewhere in UP, aspirations are fast changing  and  the erstwhile Kingdom of Kosala is no exception. Cyber  media game shows, glitzy mobile phones, aah nachle—dance and song TV competitions-- enthrall  Ayodha’s youth  at the 2Star Ram Shyam Hotel, the only one here. Come evening and no bhajan-kirtan for them,  instead  it’s  Big Boss on a communal  TV.  Scoffs a local scribe—no budding Tulsidas either, poetry  like news is bought and sold.

Some  weeks  ago instead of the  anti-corruption rallies,   this Hindi heartland witnessed a mega Congress Party rally at Basti, followed by  the BJP one in Faizabad. Thousands of loaded cars sponsored by prospective MLA-- ticket seekers  poured in from neighbouring districts in a show of strength. But Ayodhya’s locals shrugged nonchalantly. Simply no one took notice of Ravi Shankar Prasad and Nitin Gadkari thundering on Ram Mandir;  a non-issue they said. Though there is no denying BJP--MLA Lallu’s  Singh popularity here. His people to people contact is exceptional says Yatin Misra, prince-ling of erstwhile Ayodhya state,  of  `vidhayak’ Lallu. But  imagine claiming if ` mandir’ is built he will light up Ayodhya like a dulhan?  Is there  any mention of development?  Of civic amenities? Beyond widening of roads, has any change taken place? That’s why  beyond  Ayodhya, its other political parties that hold sway.   

Though Ayodhya’s history is well documented in Valmiki’s Ramayana, it is in the Atharvaveda that  its antiquity is first mentioned. The  Ikshvaku kings of Suryavanshi descent,  make up Lord Rama’s  kingdom of   Kosala  divided by the sacred river Saryu with  Sravasti the capital of the north  and Ayodhya,  the south. Though  Ram holds sway here,  it is not the hi-fi pilgrim but  the lower middle class  that comes in droves, from distant Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra.  Some walk  barefoot to the  heavily guarded Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas.  The police guards and  the heavy rolls of barbed wire do not daunt them.

But  having `Ram’s Janam bhumi’  here has been pernicious for Ayodhya,  says activist Gopal Krishna,  yet another writ petitioner of the Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas controversy, also reminding me that the name Avadh adopted by the latter Nawabs came from Ayodhya. A  thousand temples, ten thousand —there is no record of how many, or revenue earned, or taxes paid. Arre  yahan koi documentation  parampara se nahin hain, adds Mr R.C. Gaur of the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan, a research institute  established in 1985 under the then Chief Minister Veer Bahadur Singh.  No heritage laws apply here, no Antiquities or Treasure Acts.  The mahants are secretive, they don’t like to reveal their sources of wealth, and no one dare annoy the all powerful mahants.

But says the sane voice of Kaushal Kishore Das `Phalahari’  Baba,   of all of us here who wear the `sadhu- make up’,  who is a real sadhu?  Locals gossip, today  religion is a  part of a  money- laundering racket for Marvari seths, sometimes `rajneti’. In this  town of contradictions, religiosity is mixed with extreme pragmatism. Mandir  has become a `khilona’, a toy, continues  `Phalahari’ Baba, just another  face for the  desire for power. If the  Mandir- Masjid  controversy ends will  NRI Hindus or Middle- east Muslims  send money.  Think, who stands to lose?  All I wonder  is-- why  is science  progressing but humanity  regressing, why  are powerful states  fraught with paranoia, are  unselfconfident and unstable, he continues? Surely mandir-masjid doesn’t offer a solution to this?

The outburst of Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Ayodhya title suits,  is more impulsive. A  Muslim is afraid if he loses `Masjid’ he loses his relevance in this nation. Suppose  we say, okay, no mosque then how do we know there  won’t be a Mathura or some new demand won’t arise.   Peeda hai, Dukh hai, dard hai, usko leke kahan jaye hum? Is this the price of democracy? As long as there is money  in conflict—this will continue. So how can there be an amicable settlement.

Think, 25 lakhs spent each day guarding Ram Janam bhumi Nyas. In a mere  2.77 acres you have 14 PAC and 7 CRPF batallions, numerous Dog Squads, 50 darogas and what have you. BJP walas  wish Ram Mayya to rule, instead Ram lalla is under  lock and key, and the looters are running around enjoying life, he rants, while the Police nationwide  has become daku. Will  those who shout slogans of Hindutva  alone be allowed to live? Will they drive Muslims out into the Arabian sea—where will we go—look at  Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan? No state  can thrive on the basis of religion—literature and history show this.  All agree Pakistan is a failed state. —Agar masjid lene say aman aaye ga-- then take the masjid. But remember too it was in Akbar’s darbar  that Tulsidas wrote the Ramayana. 

We have to look at the nation, says Hashim. Ek hi formula hai--Mohabbat se jeeyo. Or what legacy do we leave the youth-- Youth do not think anymore.  How can they? If a father sells his house to educate his son and then he needs another 5-10 lakhs to bribe his son’s way to a job, how and what will his son think? We supply cow meat,  arhar daal, but do not eat it. Foreigners eat  better  basmati rice than us.  Why?  Because the nation needs dollars to buy arms. Where are those dollars going? Do they come back to  us  so we can  live in a better way?

Meanwhile Asif Ahmad, City President Congress Party talks about the success at the Basti Rally on 24^th April, 2011. We sent 32 cars, he said. We showed them our strength. All our leaders were there, Salman, Punia ji, Beni babu, etc. But did you tell them about your organizational weaknesses, I ask. Arre who listens….Politics is of the moment—we win on the lehar, the wave—Jo le gaya so ley gaya—5 saal ke leye raja hain voh!  All the rest remains. Then why talk of vikas, development? The voter is not educated enough to think like that.

Says Phalahari Baba, people are foolish. If I am ready to be made a fool of, why should the man not make a fool of me? The politician does it and wins the vote.  Who is angry with the system—no one. The temple trusts are  only angry as to who got more.  The women  employed to perform kirtan –bhajan at one temple are lured away by another  if offered a better make-up kit, Yatin laughs, they argue whether it is Ponds or Lakme. And when a popular TV show picks up people it is for their controversial sound byte—and a nonentity becomes a celebrity—who cares if no one knows him here! No one wants to know what Ayodhya really  is—says Yatin. Rumour has it his father, the Raja joined the BSP,  to save his property from the hands of  `Madam’

There is no Ayodhya anymore, it is a figment of the mind,  says `Phalahari’ Baba.  Open drains are filthy, garbage dumps rot, the populace full of hustlers and cynics.

So what did Ayodhya once stand for,  Ram Rajya?  Do you see any righteous rule here?

Meanwhile, the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan, a research Institute set up in 1985,  continues to show the Ram lila enacted by a troupe from Barabanki for 15 days before the next arrives  to a rapt lower middle-class  audience. With them is a kubdi mai who has braved  the heat, the poor transport, bad footwear,  and come all the way. Is it belief that sustains,  belief that as long as they hear the recitation of Tulsidas’s chaupais  there is still hope that righteous rule, in this crime-infested state  might still prevail.