Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
On this joyous occasion, heartfelt gratitude to the enormous intellectual contributions of scholars like @ElstKoenraad @davidfrawleyved Sitaram Goel, Arun Shourie, Ram Swarup, Dharampal, @IndicMeenakshi BB Lal, KK Muhammad, KV Ramesh, Dr S. Swamy & several others, known & unknown, who built a strong watertight case, adding intellectual heft to the arguments. It's riding on the shoulders of these acharyas that some of us in the younger generation have taken on the baton. Koti koti pranams to you all
Also delighted that folks like Thapar, Habib & several others who tried every falsehood to mislead courts & the country are alive to see their lies shattered to pieces today!
#RamMandirPranPrathistha #RamLallaVirajman
https://twitter.com/vikramsampath/status/1749344378970054952?t=T1dmCZjKZEjifvB6Z8P0fA&s=19
The West will eventually realize that Bharat's rise will be on its own terms, and nothing like the West. It won't resemble the malevolent, resentful, aggressive revanchism of China, but it won't be an appendage of the West either. In due course of time, Bharat will establish its own praxis, an order based on the rule it creates, and to truly understand Bharat, the West will need to get rid of its glasses. The West will need to show the humility and curiosity of a student. And since Bharat is a democracy and unencumbered by the language barrier that makes China a dark, brooding, opaque power, our rise will be cacophonous, chaotic and yet transparent. There will be pushbacks to insidious narratives, framing that seeks to exploit its fault lines will be called out. Decoloniality will have to be redefined. Dogs may bark, but the elephant will keep walking.
https://twitter.com/sreemoytalukdar/status/1748787131089313968?t=ICMaING5XeSdFy8N_XduAw&s=19
In those times of Nehruvian rejection of everything Hindu three men stood up, stood out to lead the way with courage and ingenuity! …without whom we might not have reached here!
Abhinandan Mishra, Guru Dutt Singh, and KKK Nair.
#RamMandir
This must read thread.
https://twitter.com/NAN_DINI_/status/1748946411436253302?t=X1EN63ZjnzVU-oEAk4ChsQ&s=19
On the best of days Pratap Bhanu Mehta waffles, meanders and whines through his pieces. Many then proceed to demolish mediocrity passed off for intellectualism with great pleasure.
But today it’s more like ~Rehnay doh yaar. Abh iss bechare ka kya bachha?!~
#RamMandir
Even when I had the patience to read him, I ended up wondering what exactly did he say … or worse, did he say anything at all?!??
https://twitter.com/NAN_DINI_/status/1749084306188993021?t=80Bt2vHUWVFnEDIgflBitA&s=19
THIS IS THE END. OH, MY FRIEND.
For long, we’ve been sold the story of the Idea of India. The land of Amar, Akbar, Anthony. A syncretic culture where multiple religions thrive, and live with equal respect. I call this the Dara Shikoh narrative.
In this universe, Hindi and Urdu are two loving brothers. In this world, Taj Mahal is the stock picture that represents India. In this idyllic country, everyone’s out on the streets singing mile-sur-mera-tumhara sometimes in Hindustani, sometimes in Carnatic.
We were fed this absurd and unreal cocktail for over 50 years. Anyone who believes this woolly-headed rubbish lives in the la-la land where people speak in Lutyens English and shop in Khan Market.
On Jan 22nd, India that is Bharat, will say Al Vida to the Idea of India. To me, this is the most significant development of this century. Let me tell you why.
1. THE BEST NATIONS IN THE WORLD HAVE A CLEAR IDENTITY: Israel is a Jewish country. The United States of America was chiseled with Christian values. The new South Africa has been founded on Black Nationalism. The Arabs are proudly Islamic. China is powered by Chinese nationalism. Russia by Russian nationalism. What about India? What is our identity? For decades, we’ve been utterly confused about who we are and what we stand for. Are we a secular republic? Does that define us? Is that an idea that will get us all fired up? Are we a multi-lingual democracy? That’s like defining Rahul Dravid as merely a right-handed sportsman. Isn’t it an utterly inadequate description of ourselves? So, what are we? Everything falls in place when we pitch ourselves as the Hindu Civilization. Any foreigner will get this summary. Any Indian will get it too. Strangely, the Congress party and its myopic leaders never went down that road. To them, India was a test tube baby birthed in 1947 with no ancestry, antecedence or lineage. That’s because they were too caught up with the question, ‘What will the minorities say?’ And India paid the price for it with a confused and synthetic ‘Idea of India’ that no one bought.
2. CULTURE IS ALL ABOUT PRIDE: Ask a Tamilian or Bengali to describe their culture, they will wax eloquent for hours. Ask a Sikh, about his traditions, he can go on and on. Ask a schoolkid to write an essay on the Culture of India, it will be a passionless piece filled with vacuous words regurgitated from history and geography books penned by liberal folks who were asked to peddle the Idea of India. I am yet to meet a person who owns up Shershah, Akbar, Shah Jahan, or Aurangzeb as their icon. On the contrary, have you ever wondered why a Shivaji, Rana Pratap, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Sai Baba, Tyagaraja, or Shankaracharya generate paroxysms of awe and reverence across the length and breadth of our country? The answer lies in a four-letter word called ‘Garv’.
3. INDIANS WERE NEVER TAUGHT THEIR CULTURE: Some questions bothered me as a student. Let me place them before you. Why is Illiad considered literature by our professors and not Mahabharatha? How come no one up North knows about the Tamilian who built the tallest building in India in the 11th Century (Brihadeshwarar Temple)? If sculpting was the highest art form in Ancient India, why isn’t it taught at school? Why isn’t there a single Languages University in India where one can learn any Indian language? Why do our museums have lots of artefacts from the British period and nothing from our vedic past? The simple answer for all these questions: Our national leadership of the past was never comfortable with the Hindu religion. They not only knew very little about it, they also ensured very few will know about it by NOT talking about it. And hence, Language meant English. Science began with Newton. Math with Pythagoras. Arts with Da Vinci. History, with the Mughals. Geography, was rarely about Bharat.
All of this will be given a glorious send off on Jan 22nd. The Idea of India will be given a resounding cremation.
From the ashes will emerge a saffron proclamation that we are all proud children of the ever-resurgent Hindu Civilization. Irrespective of how we pray, what we eat, or where we are from, we recognize, revere, and celebrate our mothership.
Hindu has always been our indivisible identity. And it will be the spirit that will guide us through ebb and flow of time.
If this happens, we will turn the page on years of drift and begin the march of the Great Indian century with crystal-clear clarity.
https://twitter.com/ThisIsAnantha/status/1748752474616607227?t=aK5I5WKKLtLGpCkHL6_rwA&s=19
MANY QUESTIONS. SOME ANSWERS.
While there's joy among millions, one can sense a disquiet among some of my friends - many of them Hindus.
If I have understood where they are coming from, here's what's worrying them:
a) Can a Prime Minister of a 'secular country' use the full force of his government to celebrate the inauguration of the Ram temple?
b) Should the TV media be doing live streaming of the event relegating every other issue? Isn't this a case of going overboard?
c) Isn't the mass mobilization surrounding this hype entirely political?
d) Is it right to reduce a religious function to a political 'tamasha'?
e) Isn't the open flashing of saffron and 'Jai Shree Ram' in Colonies, Gated Communities, and Social Media a little too in-your-face?
f) Are we headed towards a Hindu Rashtra where all the others will be seen and treated as 'less patriotic'?
g) Should the minorities be worried about the future?
All valid questions. It's important for the powers-that-be to calm the nerves. Although I have no connections with the government or the party in power, as an observer of Indian politics for nearly 43 years, I can try and answer these to the best of my ability.
a) Secular doesn't mean being irreligious. In the Indian context, it means 'treating all centers of faith, equally'. In 1981, the Mahamasthakabhisheka Mahotsava of Lord Bahubali of Shravanabelagola was headlined by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It was live telecast on Doordarshan. India Today carried that event on its cover page. If that was ok, what Mr. Modi did today is also fine. In case you classify my argument as whataboutery, you might want to check your definition of secularism.
b) The mainstream media (read TV and newspapers) have long lost their sense of perspective. Yes, they got carried away. They could have tempered the coverage. But it's also possible that they chased TRP/Readership. The Ram Temple is an emotive issue for millions. They probably knew the coverage would be lapped up by the devout. They were also probably overcompensating for the media blackout of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the late eighties and the early nineties.
c) The Ram Janmabhoomi movement has always been political. It wouldn't have become political had the Congress government resolved the issue much earlier. Given the history of struggles and bloodshed, one must compliment the RSS and its sister organisations for not gloating and creating an intimidating atmosphere when the Supreme Court verdict went in their favour. The inauguration of the Ram Temple is a significant victory for Hindus. The RSS and VHP can't be critiqued for going all out to celebrate the moment. Was this all done with a desire to help BJP in 2024? Of course, it was. To expect them to keep quiet about it is naive, no? Any party in their position would have done the same.
d) Perhaps they could have piped down a bit. To be fair to the Modi government, they kept the invitees to a bare minimum. But given the lotus party's urge to make a huge statement to its ardent supporters, I guess the 'tamasha' was unavoidable.
e) Decades of repression led to the moment of upsurge. Some of it might seem in-your-face. Deal with it with empathy.
f) In a political battle, the conservatives across the world have always painted themselves as Super-Patriots. That doesn't mean the rest should feel defensive about their patriotism. Stand your ground. The people on the other side are rational beings too. They might pooh-pooh your liberalism and wokeness. But questioning your patriotism is the realm of extremists. We haven't yet reached that point.
g) One can understand the nervousness of the minorities. Any muscular show of strength by the majority can turn their antennae up. Let's place some perspective. The Hindus have been the sweetest majority community any nation can ask. They had the option of going toxic after the partition. They never exercised that option. In 2014, when Mr. Modi came to power, the doomsdayers were out in full strength. Nothing perilous has transpired. The number of riots has significantly reduced. Yes, the balance of power might have tilted in favour of the majority. In politics, this is par for the course. If, for fifty years, minorities were calling the shots, they must be ready if the needle shifts to the other side for the next fifty. The best way to adapt would be to embrace the change and NOT to fear it.
Here's hoping for a positive discussion on the above points.
https://twitter.com/ThisIsAnantha/status/1749413301564620922?t=qOPkosP-YhGayHbSVcMOLw&s=19
