Secularism Stabbed - My thoughts about "Raam Ke Naam"

Disclaimer:

"Raam ke Naam" - The documentary of Anand Patwardhan (made in 1990 and released in 1997) about the attempt to demolish Babri Masjid on 30th October 1990 by 'militants' - rightly called by the documentary maker. The documentary was very impressive and this is not a review but my thoughts about it. I'm an atheist and endorse no religion.

 The documentary starts with L K Advani's rath yatra across tha nation calling Hindus to build Ram temple in the same spot. Advani's oratory skills are well captured and he is prolific in his speeches to attract people for his work. The first person to get interviewed was an oil business man wearing a red cloth over his forehead and talks about Hindu's right over Ramjanma Bhoomi. I felt wrong with a fact that was mentioned: "Babri masjid was built 1528 and 50 years later Tulsidas wrote Ramayana". Why was Valmiki's or Kambar's version of Ramayana was not mentioned here. Kambar lived circa 1180, some 340+ years back Babri masjid was built.

Chilling Facts:

British were disturbed the unity of Hindus and Muslims in India. So, they promoted a rumor that Babur destroyed a hindu temple and built the babur masjid. But with mutual compromise Hindus prayed in a Ram temple inside the compound of the masjid. Peace until 1949 when some people placed an Idol of Ram inside the masjid. The case went to district magistrate K.K.Nayar who refused to remove the idol stating security reasons. I feel this is the second biggest mistake next to the demolition itself. Temple remained opened but masjid sealed. Nayar later joined Jan sang. Mahant Shastri one of those who kept the idol inside the masjid says that Lord Ram appeared inside the mosque in his dreams and hence he did it. Does his conscience would prick him today? Haji Abdul Gafar, the imam of Babri masjid was promised by K.K.Nayar that within few fridays, things will be resolved. That friday never came.

Sarcastic views:

A law student who is a staunch supporter of VHP is interviewed. He is asked which century Ram was born. He says "I'm in first year of Law and the syllabus doesn't cover this"!! A man appearing to be saint says 1000s of years if not 100,000s of years. There were few more interviews of common man who doesn't like the demolition and construction. Common man is more worried about his social status and price rise. All the riots in the history are orchestrated by those who will be benefitted and innocents were just victims.

Rage of fire:

BJP went from 2 seats in 1984 election to 86 in 1989 by promoting hardline hindutva idealogy. This led its leaders to believe that Hindutva was the key for their success. Bricks and money were collected from international branches of VHP. Where ever Advani's rath went, lives fell, but rath never stopped. The chronology is first RSS, then VHP and then Bajrang Dal - considered to be youth wing of VHP. Bajrang dal was created more specifically for Ram Janma Bhoomi. They are all on fire to finish the task. The video also present speech by Baradhan in Patna during the same time, the veteran communist leader who fires against the chariot tour. He insists India has serious problem to deal with than building the temple. But this did not stop Advani.

The Attempt:

All roads to Ayodhya blocked. The karsevaks were stopped crossing the bridge that lead them to the site. Karsevaks with rage shouts "Bagavan ki roop hamare andhar hai". The environment is full of provocative slogans. Police lathi charges and disperse the crowd ony to gather in another spot trying to enter the compound. The vice president of VHP, S C Dixit was a former DGP and he uses his influence and speaks to the crowd using the police mega phone. He doesn't pacify them instead does the opposite. The police began to withdraw and karsevaks move ahead towards the compound. Few manages to stand tall on the domes, all of a sudden police hit back with gun shots. 4 killed, the attempt aborted. I appreciate the effort by Mulyam singh in preventing such attempts in his tenure. But Kalyan sing din't do this in 1992 which stabbed the secularism in India.

Kamal Hassan said in his movie VasoolRaja MBBS (Eng Translation):

Trust those who doesn't believe in God,

Trust those who believe in God but never trust those who say that He is God ("Bagavan ki roop hamare andhar hai"). He was right.