By Justice Markandey Katju–
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own)
A ‘bhavya’ (magnificent) Ram temple is being consecrated in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on January 22, 2024. For which Ram, though? There are two Lord Rams in India. One is the real Lord Ram, who behaved like a father to all people in his kingdom, of all faiths and sects, and took care of the welfare of all of them, and was not selective, as mentioned here.
The other is a grotesque distortion of the real Lord Ram, by some bigoted and misguided people, a Ram who is a symbol of hatred for minorities in India, as depicted in this song ‘Jo na bole Jai Shri Ram, bhej do usko qabristan‘ (Those who don’t chant Jai Shri Ram, send them to the graveyard).
It is this fake and distorted picture of Lord Ram which instigates some people to beat up Muslims for not saying Jai Shri Ram; lynch, abuse and/or attack and beat them for allegedly selling beef, and commit atrocities on them.
Even old Muslims and fakirs were not spared by these hooligans. Such misguided and bigoted people do not know the real Lord Ram. The real Lord Ram, if he were alive today and king of India, would never have tolerated such atrocities on Muslims, Christians, or other minorities, but would rather have given severe punishment to the assailants and offenders.
The real Lord Ram would have protected all people in India, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christians, Sikhs, etc and looked after their welfare, like a father of all his people, not just of Hindus.
So, for which Lord Ram is the Ayodhya temple being consecrated?
