In “The Rama Temple Incident” this whole catastrophe is a massive example of how the Ramayana and Ram have been used for political ends. The Ayodhya was a revered site for both Hindus and Muslims. Over the centuries it was long disputed and had a tendency to be a spot of massive conflict between the two communities. Hindus believe the site was the birthplace of Rama and Muslims believe that it is the resting site of the grandson of Adam, Shea (14). In the late 80’s Hindus mobilized a group in order to destroy the mosque and build a temple of Ram. Throughout the next few years, many negotiations and attempts were made to relieve the dispute. But in 1992, the mosque was demolished. This is an extreme over simplification but the Ramayana has been used as a political gambit.
The problem with promoting Rama as a deity and as this highly revered figure is that there is no limit to how it is taught to the “Hindu” youth. In “The Rama Temple Incident” it specifically brings up how it is potentially brainwashing their youth “by the rhetoric of ‘historic heritage’ of the past and the ‘pathetic situation’ of the present.” Their young people are taught to shun impotence and weakness, which if looked at face value alone, will have horrible ramifications (17). The issue of the impact on the Hindu youth is just one of the potential disasters, but it is a massive one.
In the Reuters article, Sharma, the Culture Minister of India wants to make sure that Hindus are completely vindicated in the fact that they were the first to step foot in India. This is important to him and Hindu nationalists because it proves their belief that they are the superior religion and their Hindu word is law. Sharma asks, “If the Koran and Bible are considered as part of history, then what is the problem in accepting our Hindu religious texts as the history of India?” This question alone raises many issues. The first being that there is no mention of the other dominant religions in India. Hindu nationalists are only worried about making sure that the Hindus are the only participating religion. This promotes exclusivity within India and if we look at history, when other religions are suppressed and excluded no good comes of it.
The Tamil-speaking region of India has a long-standing relationship to Kamban’s Tamil version of the Ramayana (265). In this article Rama is even referred to as “Lord Rama”, indicating respect and reverence for him. This region of India has long studied this version of the Ramayana which completely contradicts the Hindu nationalists’ portrayal of a completely opposing Muslim belief system. Although the destruction of the Babri Masjid may discourage or lessen the enthusiasm with which it was studied, it is still studied, nevertheless. This community completely invalidates the Hindu political narrative and makes their goal of Hindu superiority even more absurd.