Why do middle-class families love to hate Babri Masjid?

In a similar way, the issue of Babri Masjid has been the victim of political narration. And initially propagated by few, this narration is now taken by the majority.

Lord Ram was born on this place. There was a temple here. Their leaders took over the place, broke the temple and built a mosque on it. That place is ours. Let’s break the mosque. And build a temple there again. Because that place belongs to our lord Ram.

Isn’t this narration quite appealing and justifiable? Indeed, it is! The intellects and educated, who always took pride in their paper qualifications, even they fell for this simple narration. The crowd of hooligans, abusers, and murderers you see today, ready to attack any and every dissenting voice, isn’t just of the illiterates. It has doctors, engineers, sports personalities and teachers. Just look up on Twitters. The tweets and hashtags would make things very evident.

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Over three decades back, an organization took this narration and infused it to the idea of justice. ‘They demolished our Mandir. We want justice by demolishing their mosque.’ This simple propaganda, hiding under the garb of “justice” first spread to the sevaks, the first line of offense. And then it inched to the middle-class (and even upper-class) families—a crowd who were made to feel, by political stooges, that they were injusticed and suppressed. The feeling soon took over and then 1992 happened: Babri Masjid demolition.

The people who partook in the demolition, who were fed a narration, they were a result of an experiment—an experiment to spread hate against selected communities and turn India into a majoritarian Hindu state; an equal opposite to Pakistan.

The people who were not the part of the crowd that was involved in Babri Masjid demolition, even from the fence, a lot of them nodded to this narration and justified the demolition. However, the whole 1992 incident and the years following, the experiment of hatred pushed by a powerful organization and a new political outfit didn’t gain as much momentum.

Years passed by and the desperation to come into power of this “organization” became very evident. One government came, the other one went. This continued—all the while that narration breathed, and grew albeit slowly, within the judicial debates. But it all changed in 2014. The decades of wait delivered fruits—and a political party formed a majority government at the center. It was time to forward that narration to newer heights. And this time with the internet and the idea of fake news – and with the oratory skills of a leader – the task-at-hand was easier than ever.

The intellects fell for the narration. The bought-up media houses played a crucial role in Hindu-Muslim debates every day. A section was slowly being marginalized by the costume of “Hindu pride” and “nationalism”. The narration peaked when hate became common, when everyone stopped questioning Babri Masjid demolition and started justifying it. The narration met its success end when the idea of “we want justice even if it means we kill others” came into the mainstream. This was all done by the Godi media and a slew of “small changes” in the constitution and infrastructure of this country.

This whole situation halved the nation into 3 groups. One that was marginalized and the ploy was against of. Second, the ones who disagreed with the narration but never spoke against it out of fear. And third, the ones who bought the idea of “we want justice” from a leader who promised and promised some more. The third group, so awestruck with the leader and his promises, eventually made hatred its ultimate asset. Many went extreme to take up weapons and kill others—all just to protect that leader who promises AND to save the original narration.

Today, even in hushed breathes, the majority of middle-class families in India love to hate Babri Masjid. Because they are a victim of a lasting narration.

“They took over our temple. It was our place. It was right to demolish the mosque” … “That is our space. Why can’t we build a temple there?” … “Our Lord Ram was born there. How dare someone play with our religious sentiments!”

A lot of middle-class Indian families agree to these ideas that are originally spurred out of 3-decade old social and political narration.

And this is why whenever the topic of Ayodhya comes, the majority of them gets over-sensitive. Because they are a victim of a narration that, in this political environment, is being sold by a charismatic leader and his promises.

And the worst of all is that even the judiciary, at times, has shown cracks under the weight of this narration. While many, including me, would disagree with what Sri Sri Ravishankar said months back, the way Media and political parties have acclimatized the nation for hate, the upcoming Ayodhya verdict will eventually leave a big red mark in India’s history.

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