Uma Bharti (Express photo by Renuka Puri)
Union minister Uma Bharti on Saturday said the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was necessary because the demolition of the temple, and construction of the mosque, at the site in Ayodhya was not due to reasons of worship but to “demean” Hindus who prayed at the Ram temple.
Bharti was speaking at the opening session of a two-day conference on Vasudhaiva Kutambakam (the world is one family) at NDMC Convention Centre in Delhi. The event was organised jointly by Ramanujan College, Delhi University, and Shaikshik Foundation, a right-wing organisation.
Explaining the need for Ram movement, Bharti said, “Jab hum Vasudhaiva Kutambakam ki baat karte hain to dimag mein ye sawaal bhi aata hai ki hum Ram Janmabhoomi se kyun judein hain? Kyunki agar bhagwan har jagah hai to zaroori thodi hai ki wo wahin honge jahan Ram Lalla thhe; agal-bagal bhi to hoga. To phir hum zidd kyun kar rahein thhe is baat ki hum ko mandir wahin banana hai? (When we talk of the world as one family, why do we insist that the Ram Temple should be built at a specific site. After all, if God is present everywhere it is not necessary that He should be only at the spot where Ram Lalla resided. He can be anywhere around the site, as God is omnipresent),” she said.
She said, “Mir Baqi jab aaya Babur ke kehne pe, aur wo Ayodhya pohoncha, usne dekha ki yahan bohot log aate hain aur apne bhagwan ki janmbhoomi pe matha tekte hain. Usne kaha isko todna hai. To kya khuda har jagah nahi tha? Kya Ayodhya ke maidan nahi thhe ibadat karne ke liye, masjid banane ke liye? Wahin jagah kyun chuni? Isliye nahi chuni kyunki wahan ibadat karni thhi. Isliye chuni kyunki humein neecha dikhana thha… hamari beizzati karni thhi, humare andar inferiority paida karni thhi (when Mir Baqi, the Mughal governor of Awadh, reached Ayodhya on Babur’s instructions, he saw many Hindu believers came to the temple there. Weren’t there other places in Ayodhya where a mosque could have been constructed? Why was only that spot identified for the mosque? It was chosen not for worship but to show Hindus our place and demean us).”
About the demand for freedom of choice, freedom from exploitation, subjugation, etc raised through “aazadi” slogans by youths, rights activists and others, Bharti said, “Aajkal Bharat mein ek nayi baat chal padi hai – mujhe khaane ki aazadi chahiye, mujhe pehenne ki aazadi chahiye, mujhe bolne ki aazadi chahiye, mujhe sochne ki aazadi chahiye…humko poori aazadi chahiye…. Phir ek doosri aazadi bhi honi chahiye. Jab ladki ne kaha ki mujhe tumhare saath nahi rehna, to uske muhn pe tezaab kyun phenk diya? Wo bhi aazadi do na usko. Ya to aap udhar (West) ke ho jao, ya aap idhar (East) ke ho jao (there’s a new trend in India today – people seek freedom to eat anything they want to, freedom to wear their choice of clothes, freedom to speak, freedom to think, demand for total freedom…. Then there should be another freedom: when a woman does not want to be with a man, why throw acid on her? Give her the freedom of her choice. You should either hold Western ideas, or have eastern ideas).”
Bharti said that those emulating Western culture should refuse dowry and stop monetary dependence on parents after they turn 18.
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