The BJP enters challenging times where it has been given a task to hold onto the values of Ram in running the country as defined by Narendra Modi in Ayodhya today, notes Sheela Bhatt.
The pran pratishtha event at Ayodhya has given the idea of the Hindu Rashtra that the RSS and BJP have been talking about for many decades.
Nobody uttered those two words on Monday, but everyone got a feel of a nation of Hindus.
Without changing even a minor clause of the secular Constitution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed the way how India will be looked at by Indians and by the world.
Nothing fundamentally changes in society or in the relationship between different religious groups after Monday's pran pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya.
It will carry more or less the same characteristics, positive and negative, between Hindus and Muslims as it exists today, but the perceptions of Hindus in the public sphere and how Hindus will be viewed by other believers will never be the same again.
A lot has happened through the construction of the Ram temple.
'A nation rising by breaking the mentality of slavery, a nation drawing courage from every affliction of the past, creates a new history in this manner,' Modi observed in his post pran pratishtha remarks on Monday.
'A thousand years from today, people will talk about this date, this moment. And how great is Lord Ram's grace that we are living in this moment, witnessing it happen.' Modi stated.
There are many distinct features of today's event.
First and foremost is an important question: Will Ayodhya emerge as the seat of Hindu religious power?
The universality of Shri Ram, the magnificent temple, the infrastructure around it and the Ramanandi sect's presence in different parts of India may make Ayodhya hugely important now.
Another fascinating thing about Ayodhya's new Ram temple is the Modi government's smoothly co-ordinated attempt to amalgamate imaginations of faith of South Indians and North Indians.
Never before has a South Indian black stone statue of God been installed and turned into a deity after a pran pratishtha in the Ganga belt the way it has been done today.
This is historic and a highly unifying factor of Hindus of India.
Ayodhya's temple, built in Nagar architecture, is according to the beliefs of the Ramanandi sect and the shrine is located on the banks of the Sarayu river, but the idol's creator, Arun Yogiraj, belongs to Karnataka, south of the Vindhyas, and Ram's statue is according to his belief in Ram.
Third, Modi had many options before him to deliver in his speech after the ceremony. He could have given a fiery speech with quotations from the history of injustice to Hindus and suppression of the Hindu faith under Islamic rulers and under invaders of the pre-Mughal era.
Instead, Modi didn't mention the disharmony of past, but dwelt on the virtues of Ram and how India of the next 1,000 years could be built with Ram's help.
It is significant to note that the BJP has instructed its cadres to chant 'Jai Siyaram' from now on. In Gujarat, the Godhra train tragedy victim's relatives did not give interviews. There were large scale attempts to not heat up the atmosphere before January 22.
The police and intelligence operatives kept a watch and there were instructions to maintain communal harmony all over India while spreading the message of the pran pratishtha event.
The BJP's youth cadres were exceptionally disciplined when they approached homes with Akshat and requests to celebrate January 22.
Modi's January 22, 2024 speech will be remembered for its modest tone and presentation of the vision of Shri Ram.
'Today's occasion is not only a moment of celebration, but also a moment that signifies the maturity of Indian society. For us, this occasion is not only about victory, but also about humility,' Modi said.
'The history of the world is a witness that many nations get entangled in their own history. Whenever such countries have tried to unravel the tangled knots of their history, they have faced great difficulties in achieving success.
'In fact, many times the situations have become more challenging than before. However, the way our country has untangled this knot of history with seriousness and sensitivity, it indicates that our future is going to be much more beautiful than our past.'
Knowing the history of many places including Turkey and Spain where churches have turned into mosques and vice versa, Modi's mention of the 'untangling knots of history' is telling.
'There was a time when some people said that if the Ram temple is built, it will lead to unrest,' the prime minister noted. 'Such people failed to understand the purity of India's social sentiment.
'The construction of this temple of Ramlalla is also a symbol of peace, patience, harmony, and coordination in Indian society.'
Surely, this message is meant for Muslims and other minorities.
Also, it is a message for BJP cadres to keep away from taking a harsh Hindutva approach.
The climax of Modi's speech came when he said, 'Ram is not fire, Ram is energy. Ram is not a dispute, Ram is the solution. Ram is not only ours, Ram is for everyone. Ram is not just the present, Ram is eternal.'
While concluding his speech, Modi said, 'Ram is the faith of India, the foundation of India. Ram is the thought of India, the law of India. Ram is the consciousness of India, the contemplation of India. Ram is the prestige of India, the might of India. Ram is the flow, Ram is the influence.
'Ram is the norm, and Ram is the policy. Ram is the permanence, and Ram is the continuity. Ram is vast, Ram is expansive. Ram is all-encompassing, Ram is the universe, the soul of the universe.
'And therefore, when Ram is established, its impact lasts not just for years or centuries. Its impact is for thousands of years.'
Modi did not speak about a Hindu Rashtra, but his idea of India is what Ram means to millions of Indians and to India.
By giving a moderate speech on Ram and his triumphant return to Ayodhya, Modi conquered his Ayodhya moment.
At the same time it will ruin all his efforts if this moderation is not kept up in coming months.
The BJP enters challenging times where it has been given a task to hold onto the values of Ram in running the country as defined by Narendra Modi in Ayodhya today.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
