Can yoga relieve the agony of Muslims?

No therapy has been found to lessen the agony of Muslims enmeshed in intractable problems that defy any solution. Of these numerous problems that of the demolition of Babri mosque is humongous. Riots and bloodsheds followed the trail of the chariot on which LK Advani traversed the country exhorting Hindus to get the Ram temple built. There is no shortage of Ram temples in India. But the one in Ayodhya must be built on the site where stood the Babri mosque till December 6, 1992. There is no legal solution in sight. Given the Hindutva government in power at centre it is impossible. Yet the pain is palpably rising because any and every further move towards building the temple would herald in more bloodshed. The rathyata of Advani was the tactic of manufacturing riots and riots did follow wherever Advani went. It was BJP secretary Narendra Modi who had arranged to roll down the chariot from Somnath temple with Advani Pramod Mahajan leading the crowds from the front. That was in the early 1990s. Ten years later the RSS and its conglomerates wanted to revive the stopped work of rebuilding. Now another decade is over and the voters who put BJP in power want to en-cash the cheque that they got in demolition of the mosque. They have appealed to followers to donate one lakh square feet of stone. The right wing have won power through ballot and so why not en cash the cheque! “Ram temple is our identity. We cannot leave it at any cost. This issue will be taken up after we put together a proper strategy. And we are in the process of fine-tuning that strategy." That was Kalraj Mishra. On the yoga day on June 21, 2015 when all the media was focused on the stretching of the parts of the body in far flung places, RSS and its groups were getting ready to put in practice what their chief was ordering them. In a close-door meeting at at Nivedita Shiksha Sadan in Mahmoorganj area in Varanasi where 22 leaders of BJP who had participated in Babri demolition movement were also present Mohan Bhagwat made very serious remarks. It is fraught with dangerous dynamics. 1. The issue of the Ram temple must be settled before 2017 UP assembly election. 2. The movement to build up the temple at Ayodhya would be speeded up. 3. BJP failed to highlight the resolve to build the temple after completing one year in office. 4. Speaking in the constituency of the PM Modi he said he was ready to face the wrath of the people who elected Modi. They had voted Modi for the temple and now Modi must fulfill the pledge to build temple. 5. He condemned the elected members of BJP who were mouthing contradictory statement on Babri mosque issue every now and then. 6. BJP will suffer more from this rather than the rival Congress. This last is well known contradiction, Rajnath Singh saying development and not Ram Mandir is priority, Amit Shah saying BJP not on back foot on the issue.[1] On the yoga day itself stretching of the parts of the body generated tension of the mind of the vice president and the Muslims. Ram Madhav, secretary and RSS spokesman singled out Hamid Ansari’s absence and then said that he was perhaps sick. The Vice President’s office replied that he was not invited and then said that he was not sick. It furthered explained that according to protocols the VP attends function only where he is invited. Equally serious was the barrage of Sadhvi Prachi who said those who do not want to attend yog must go to Pakistan. Being sent to Pakistan is the recurring leitmotif which is maintained inorder to focus on the minority and raise their tension of existence in India. It is programmed to get on their nerves. Although they are the legitimate citizens of India but she says that they have “no right” to live in India. Then came the barb as she taunted that yoga programme was not the wedding function of the daughter of a politician where VP needed an invitation. The whole issue is in fact an aspect of the clash of civilization. Hindus believe yoga originated in Indian culture since ancient time. However western countries do not give credit to India. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board feels that “Brahamin dharma and Vedic culture are out to harm Islamic beliefs by all means.” Pat came the answer of Sadhvi Prachi: “They should connect themselves with the traditions of India, cultureof India. There is no need for any objection. If they ar objecting then they should go to Pakistan. People who are objecting to it have no right to reside in India…They have India’s food and sing songs of Pakistan. Democracy does not tell you to object to India’s traditions and cultures.” [2] This kind of engagement with the minority removes attention from the real problems of the community: backwardness, illiteracy, housing difficulties, diseases and plight caused by riots and premeditated framing of Muslim youths in bogus terror charges of terrorism and unemployment. Thus the community is left in the Sargasso Sea of suffering. ------ [1] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ram-temple-mohan-bhagwat-rss-up-elections/1/446118.html [2] Asian Age June 24, 2015