In India, dueling houses of god

Shree Mahant Govindanandji, spokesman for the All India Akhara Parishad, which represents the largest group of Hindu schools, said most Hindus support a Hindu temple at the disputed site, but he blasted the VHP for politicizing it.

"VHP has no right to talk about the Ram Temple issue, since it is not a party in this case," Mr. Govindanandji told reporters at the Kumbh Mela, referring to a 1949 lawsuit that Hindus filed to challenge Muslim ownership. "If the government hands over the disputed land to us, we would construct the Ram Temple after reaching an amiable settlement with the Muslims."

Any settlement at all has thus far proven elusive. While Hindu stalwarts point to Muslim historical works to prove that Babur had torn down a Ram temple in order to build his self-named Babri Mosque, few scholars give this evidence much weight. What is not disputed is that the land that the mosque was built on belonged to the Muslim community, even if the mosque itself was not used.

Ironically, the riots that jolted the nation from Delhi to Calcutta to Bombay eight years ago didn't touch towns around Ayodhya. Some locals say this is because the troublemakers who tore down the mosque were outsiders, and that Muslim and Hindu communities had learned to live together for centuries under the leadership of a Muslim hereditary ruler called the Nawab of Awadh.

At a mosque in Faizabad, a mainly Muslim city next to Ayodhya, S.M. Abbas, a lawyer, says this peaceful coexistence was based on rule of law. "If the court only says that according to Indian law a temple should be built, I don't mind, and if it says a mosque, I don't mind," says Mr. Abbas, as fellow Muslims nod their assent. "But if people are going against the Constitution, anything can happen. It will start a civil war."

Mohammed Naseer, owner of a bicycle shop, agrees. "Whatever the Supreme Court decides, we will accept. But if they are going to build it by force, we will stop it by force."

Back in Ayodhya, Hindu stonemason Dilip Kumar Sompura says he traveled from the town of Udaipur in Rajasthan seven years ago to work on the temple project because he believed in the cause. "I didn't know a temple was here before," he admits, "but when I heard about it, I thought this was a very sacred place. Let's go there and work."

Not all Hindus in the area share such pro-temple views. Rajesh Kapoor, a hotel owner in Faizabad, says the VHP and its political allies in government are whipping up the Ayodhya issue to gain votes in state elections this year. "It is only a political game," he says, noting that the local Hindu-nationalist government has actually lost votes because of the temple-mosque riots.

ButMr. Kapoor's worries go beyond business and politics to the larger issue of his community. He picks up a glass as a metaphor for Indian society. "If you destroy this glass, it will take a long time to rebuild it."

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society

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