Omkar Dattatray
Ram Janamboomi temple issue is basically ,primarily and fundamentally a socio-cultural issue .It has also been recently stated the other day by the defense minister Rajnath Singh .He said that the Ram Janamboomi temple issue is a cultural issue for the nation and for the BJP as well .It is not a political issue and thus should not be politicized by the political parties .This cultural issue should not be used as a vote catching machine and thus should not be an issue connected with vote bank politics .So it is not a political issue to get votes in our secular democracy .With a couple of weeks left to inaugurate Ram Temple ,Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that Ram Janamboomi is not merely a political issue but is a cultural issue for BJP. The consecration ceremony of Ram Janamboomi temple and Ram Lalla will be held on January 22,2024 ,our Prime minister Narendra Modi will be present there ,”When asked about getting electoral benefits from Ram temple he said ,this is not a political issue for us to get votes ,Ram Janamboomi is a cultural issues for us .”The consecration ceremony in Ayodhya ‘s Ram Mandir will be held over seven days ,starting on January 16.On the final day ,January 22 after morning Puja ,the deity of Ram Lalla will be consecrated in ‘Marigashira Nakshatra in the afternoon .But it is unfortunate that before the consecration of Lord Ram ,much politics is being played by the opposition parties, with some calling that the BJP has high jacked the Ram temple inauguration and the consecration ceremony has been reduced to be the political affair of the ruling BJP and they are using the Ram Janamboomi issue to come to power at the centre in 2024.A big congress leader has also said that without Ram ,there is no existence of India and India has no meaning without Ram and congress should accept the plain speaking of its own leader and stop politicizing the Ram Janamboomi itemple issue .Lord Ram is the breath ,soul and the essence of Bharat and India has no meaning without Ram .India cannot be conceived without Ram and Lord Ram is our torch bearer and guiding force .we aim at having Ram Rajya in the country. Today Ram has become a focal point of unification and unity for all over India .All differences and discriminations pale into insignificance before the unifying force of the Lord Rama’s consecration .All the people are coming together to make the important event a total success and the people of this country have unflinching faith in Lord Ram who is the symbol of our cultural legacy and cultural identity and therefore it is the force of unification of the people and their efforts for the Ram Rajya .Ram is our national icon and inseparable part of our grand national culture besides being the private religious and cultural icon .Lord Ram is more loved even more than our life and limb .Invitation has gone to top congress leaders including the congress president Mallickarujun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi ,but the congress is in confusion over attending the inauguration ceremony of Ram temple .Pralhad Joshi says that it will suffer both ways ,if the leaders attend or if they don’t attend .The congress is in a fix over attending Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya .Its prospects will suffer both ways ,if the leaders attend the inauguration or if they skip the inauguration ”said union minister Pralhad joshi .In the past congress has questioned the existence of Lord Ram and said that he is the matter of imagination and has no real existence and thus the congress failed to gain power and stands distanced from the people .The entire life story of Rama ,Sita and their companions allegorically discusses duties ,rights and social responsibilities of an individual. It illustrates dharma ,dharmic living through model characters .Rama’s life story is imbued with symbolism .According to Sheldon Pollock ,the life of Rama as told in the Indian texts is a masterpiece that offers a framework to represent ,conceptualize and comprehend the world and the nature of life .Lake major epics and religious stories around the world ,it has been of vital relevance because it, ”tells the culture what it is. ”Rama’s life is more complex than western template for the battle between the good and the evil ,where there is a clear distinction between immortal powerful gods or heroes and the mortal struggling humans .In Indian traditions ,particularly Ramayana ,the story is about a divine human ,a mortal god ,incorporating both into the exemplar who transcends both humans and gods .As a person ,Rama personifies the characteristics of an ideal person .He had within him all desirable virtues that any individual would seek to aspire, and he fulfills all his moral obligations .Rama is considered a maryada purshottama or the best of upholders of Dharma .Rama has been considered as a source of inspiration and has been described as Maryada Purshottama (Ideal Man) and ideal king .He has been depicted in many films ,television shows and plays .Lord Ram was an ideal king and his kingdom was ideal to be imitated and followed by the Kings and even by the modern democrats and rulers .Rama is worthy of emulation and worthy of imitation and that is the reason that father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi laid stress on having a Ram Rajya which will be the ideal rule and will be a panacea of all ills and problems .Thus the political parties especially the saffron parties talk about the relevance of having a Ram Rajya in India and they strive for having it as the ideal rule .Thus Yogi Adhitiyanath and the most BJP leaders including the top executive the PM talks of having the Ram Rajya in India .Mind Ram Rajya is most secular and is not against any religion and in it people of all faiths are equally treated .In short Ram Janamboomi temple is a socio-cultural issue and is not a political issue but then it turns into votes for the saffron party but basically it is a cultural not a political issue and thus all the political parties should desist from politicizing Ram temple issue and at the present should not politicize the inauguration of Ram temple issue. May Lord Ram free the universe from all negative forces and protect the mankind and let us get inspiration from the cultural life of Lord Ram.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).