Observations on the Rama Setu Issue
A gentleman made an insightful observation on another forum I’m part of. While this observation is not new, it underscores what we all know: post-Independence Hindu society has failed to defend itself adequately. I had to make this post now because the Rama Sethu issue is relatively “alive” in public consciousness.
Koenraad Elst has made the same observation repeatedly in his masterful Decolonizing the Hindu Mind. Hindus have been playing the game according to the rules set by their opponents in every debate concerning secularism, or more specifically, the Hindu-Muslim question. This, despite having an array of scholars and intellectuals at their command. One reason attributed to this failure is the fact that the works of these scholars have not reached the public as widely as they should have, thanks to Nehruvian censorship. However, that should not have prevented the Hindu leadership from commiting the same mistake repeatedly: the Rama Sethu is the latest instance.
Notice how, when Nehruvian secularists proclaimed–on almost no basis–that they were secular while those championing Hindu causes were “communal.” The Hindu leadership took the bait and bent backwards proclaiming they were more secular. We see this in action in the events leading up to the Babri Masjid demolition more than in any other single such episode. And so is it with the Rama Sethu controversy.
The correct approach–as the gentleman on the other forum recommends–should have been to put the burden of proof on the Rama Sethu demolition advocates. Instead, the entire Hindu leadership has busied itself in trying to prove that Rama Sethu is not Adam’s bridge, etc. Which is why trying to prove the historicity of the Rama Sethu is a futile attempt, and relying on the Ramayana tradition handed to us over hundreds of years is a better approach.
The Rama Sethu is a cultural symbol of India than a mere natural or man-made formation. How about a proposal to destroy the Teen Murti Bhavan to make way for mass housing for the poor?
Think about it.
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We have failed.
Though, as a glimmer of hope, i see that views such as your can even be aired is a start. The wool of pseudo-secularism that has been pulled over our eyes is beginning to get lifted.
Whether its too little too late is a different matter.
Off topic, but is this true?
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/change-the-tv-campaign-ec-asks-bjp/64485-3.html
I want to know if the BJP is actually flouting rules or is the Election Commission backed by the congress out to get them by hook or by crook?
Hi Mayuresh,
See this blog entry for a response to your query: http://barbarindians.blogspot.com/2008/05/strange-move-by-election-commission.html
During the last election, the EC covered up all the lotuses in a pond to deny any advantage to NDA. That is the calibre of EC.
Of course, Rama Setu is of paramount cultural significance to the nation. But in addition to questioning the specific secular demands, we should also point out their antecedents.
The western-educated neocolonized elite will not be satisfied until every Indian foregoes his traditional name and refers to himself by a barcode or otherwise enters a sensory deprivation chamber. This attitude is a secularization of the iconoclastic purges found in Christianity, which are meant to utterly subjugate a captive population by destroying the cultural fabric itself.
A recent series on Rama Setu:
Thieves, saboteurs and pawnbrokers – V
by Shri V. Sundaram