The Rama story has been used to rewrite history, reestablish the caste, sacrifice Muslim heretage, and reinforce Indian nationalism. religious site to achieve such ends. The clearest depiction is laid out in the “Rama Temple Incident,” in which it acknowledges “the mix of Ram and history has come to be a potent weapon for the Hindu communal forces to reap the much desired political dividends (22).” As a means to replace Muslim visibility, the political activists bent on reestablishing the Rama story into the history went so far as to claim that Rama’s birthplace, Ramjanmabhoomi, was demolished and replaced by the Babri Masjid mosque. This resulted in violence and destruction beyond simple disagreements on land, as is stated, “The Ayodhya Ram temple movement was not a plea for a temple for Sri Rama, …(it) reflected a far deeper quest for recapturing our national identity (20).” Therefore, it was a calculated act to instill Hindu nationalism and superiority over the Muslim citizenry. This is such a dangerous tactic because it divides the Indian populace against itself, as Ruthers says India “want ultimately to shape the national identity to match their religious views, that India is a nation of and for Hindus.” This is dangerous in its alienation of whole religious groups. The Rama story has been effective to this end due to the employment of religious texts as a historical motivator and instiller of national pride. The people want to believe in a historical Ram, and the search for his home is an easily accessible tool to complete political ends while alienating those who do not represent Hindu ideals.
To banish Muslims in an onslaught of Hindu nationalism is to disregard the celebrated contributions to Ramayana scholarship. Pulavar and Ismail, were too such Muslim scholars. Pulavar was “one of the earliest serious scholars of Kamban (267).” Ismail, gave, “hundreds of speeches and talks on the Ramayana throughout Tamil Nadu and to many Tamil speaking communities all over the world (276).” And, he “has been recognized and decorated for his scholarship by many Hindu groups (277) and beyond.” Clearly these men, though not Hindu, interact closely with the sacred Hindu texts more than most Hindu’s. Would a Hindu dare to scoff at these learned mens’ scholarship due to their religious practices? The facts of these mens’ careers blatantly disrupt the one note nationalism preached by the RSS.