Trumped
By A Religious Myth
By Praful Bidwai
22 September, 2007
The News International
India's
United Progressive Alliance came to power in 2004 on a secular platform.
But it has now beaten an ignominious retreat on the Ram Setu (Adam's
Bridge) issue pertaining to the proposed Sethusamudram ship-canal project
in the Palk Straits by caving in to the Sangh Parivar.
Having told the Supreme Court
through an affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
that there is no clinching evidence that the shoal/sandbar structure
in the Gulf of Mannar was built by Lord Rama's followers, it executed
a U-turn as soon as it sensed that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bharatiya
Janata Party might exploit it by misconstruing it as "anti-Hindu."
The Sangh Parivar contends
that the affidavit denies Ram's existence and constitutes "blasphemy"
and an "insult to the Hindus." As L K Advani claimed, "the
government has sought to negate all that the Hindus consider sacred
… and wounded the very idea of India."
Following media spin, some
secular liberals too wrongly described the affidavit as overreaching
or tactless because it callously "denies Ram's existence, goes
beyond saying that the Setu is a natural formation, and comments on
the historicity of sacred texts like the Ramayana and Tulasidas's Ramacharitamanas.
However, a close look shows
that the affidavit merely rejects the view that such texts are an incontrovertible
historical record which proves that the Setu is a man-made structure.
The ASI had to say this because the communal petitioners moving the
court relied primarily on the Ramayana and Ramacharitamanas as clinching
evidence that the Setu was man-made.
Leaving that contention unrefuted
would have meant giving in to the idea that faith must always trump
history, archaeology, even geology -- which explains the existence of
natural formations like Adam's Bridge -- and accepting that the project
must be scrapped because of myths and scriptures, not fact.
Yet, the affidavit is extremely
deferential to the scriptures: "The ASI is aware of and duly respects
the deep religious import bestowed upon these texts by the Hindu community
across the globe…" Yet, it argues that no material evidence,
such as human remains or other artefacts, has been discovered at the
site, which would corroborate the mythological account.
It also quotes studies by
the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, which "conclusively"
show that the Setu formation is purely natural, and says that the imagery
collected by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
cannot be interpreted as "proof" of a man-made structure.
NASA itself has clarified that remote visual images cannot prove or
disprove this.
Historians also concur that
the Setu cannot be considered a man-made entity because no material
evidence to authenticate this has been found. That's not all. A Geological
Survey of India study around Adam's Bridge, based on drilling holes
into submerged rocks, also found "no evidence" of man-made
structures. It revealed three cycles of sedimentation of clay, limestone
and sandstone -- a natural phenomenon which occurred thousands of years
before humans settled in peninsular India.
The ASI succinctly summarised
all this. It could have been more diplomatic in wording its affidavit.
But it's doubtful if that would have satisfied those opposing the project
on grounds not amenable to reason or scientific debate.
Yet, the mere threat of an
agitation by the Sangh Parivar against disturbing the Setu through the
canal project so unnerved the government that it abjectly apologised
for the affidavit. Law Minister H R Bhardwaj said: "Lord Rama is
an integral part of Indian culture and ethos … and cannot be a
matter of debate … His existence can't be put to the test…
The whole world exists because of Rama."
Bhardwaj got melodramatically
poetic: "Just as the Himalayas are the Himalayas, the Ganga is
the Ganga, Rama is Rama… It's a question of faith. There is no
requirement of proof" for such faith.
The same Bhardwaj was minister
of state for law in the mid-1980s, and advised Rajiv Gandhi to commit
two acts of "appeasement" within one month: first, open the
gates of the Babri Masjid and trigger a communal mobilisation, and second,
amend laws to annul the Shah Bano verdict. These disastrous moves alienated
the Congress from both communities, and ensured the BJP's meteoric rise
from a mere two Lok Sabha seats in 1984 to 89 in 1989. The rest is history.
Last week too, the UPA cravenly
capitulated to the VHP-BJP's bullying, without making even token criticism
of their gross distortion of the ASI affidavit. Instead, it started
looking for scapegoats within -- the ASI's senior directors and Culture
Minister Ambika Soni. All that made the UPA change its mind was a few
VHP marches in one day!
The UPA's disgraceful U-turn
buoyed up the Sangh Parivar, which has been in ideological and organisational
disarray, as evidenced by new power struggles within the BJP, and growing
tensions between it and the VHP/RSS.
It's a sign of the relative
acceptance that soft-Hindutva continues to enjoy among the Indian elite
that the UPA's appeasement of the Parivar has attracted very little
criticism from the mainstream media. Perhaps many liberals felt relieved
that the UPA quickly defused the crisis by withdrawing the ASI affidavit,
thus preventing another hysterical mobilisation on a religious-political
issue.
Whatever the reason, such
passivity doesn't bode well for Indian society.
Three conclusions follow.
First, this episode demonstrates the UPA's weak-kneed response to majoritarian
communalism rather than the strength of the popular sentiment on the
Ram Setu issue, which is, if anything, diffuse. The UPA simply didn't
have the stomach to assert the relevant scientific-historical arguments
in self-defence. By caving in to the Parivar, it legitimised the communal
claim that there's an overwhelming "Hindu sentiment" on the
Ram Setu.
In reality, the Hindus are
an extraordinarily complex, large and diverse community. Hindu myths
and legends about Rama and Ravana differ widely not just between the
North and the South, but within the regions too. Any view that artificially
homogenises this diversity distorts reality.
Indeed, it's doubtful if
many devout Hindus even know about the Setu -- just as most of them
probably hadn't even heard of Ram Janmabhoomi until the Sangh Parivar
launched its agitation after the Babri Masjid's gates had been unlocked.
In any case, one doesn't have to believe in the Setu's historicity to
be a good Hindu.
Second, it's simply false
to argue that to be "authentic," Indian secularism must be
rooted in the culture of the religious majority, and that such culture
must include myths and scriptures, while excluding archaeology, history
and science.
Secularism involves the basic
separation of religion and politics. In the Indian case, secularism
derives as much from universal citizenship cutting across religious
lines, as from the imperative of tolerance and inter-communal harmony.
Finally, by capitulating
to the Parivar, the UPA has violated the Constitutional mandate to uphold
secular values and not to privilege a particular religion or belief
system. This mandate is part of the Basic Structure of the Indian Constitution.
It dictates that decisions about development projects should be taken
on social, environmental and economic grounds, not mythological ones.
Each time the Indian state
bends to fundamentalist pressure, it compromises itself, and allows
public reason to be trumped by religious belief or private prejudice.
This isn't the mark of a society that aspires to modernity, tolerance
and pluralism.
The writer is a Delhi-based
researcher, peace and human rights activist, and former newspaper editor.
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