The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) duly organised its Shaurya Diwas (victory day) in Ayodhya, preceded by a last-ditch attempt presumably to provoke student radicals in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) with a procession and chants of Mandir Wahin Banayenge (we will build the temple there). But the 26th anniversary of the demolition of Babri mosque on Thursday was unique in the absolute silence of the opposition parties on the Ram temple issue.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put its ideological family, especially the VHP, to work for revival of the Ram temple issue in the run-up to the general elections in 2019. The Parishad and its associated religious figures have held frequent meetings with demands of an ordinance to construct the Ram temple in Ayodhya. But without an equally strong opposition against the temple construction, the attempts to revive the Ramjanmabhoomi debate have so far failed.

Caution shown

Even the Left parties, whose flagging of secularism has, in the past, been a fodder for fanning Hindu sentiments around the Ram temple, were extremely careful this time in the way they broached the issue. While the Left organised street protests, most marked in West Bengal, the slogans were carefully crafted to avoid any references to the Ramjanmabhoomi and Babri mosque. The street mobilisation was mostly around the more palatable theme of “Save the Constitution” with the focus on BR Ambedkar, whose birth anniversary falls on the same day.

“The slogan should be – Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai, Bharat key eh chaar sipahi (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians are four soldiers of India),” said the CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechruy, while addressing “Save the Constitution” rally at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

Focus elsewhere

But besides the Left, no major political party or leader mentioned the demolition of the mosque or the ongoing efforts by the ruling party’s ideological affiliates to revive the Ram temple movement. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) observed BR Ambedkar’s 63rd death anniversary with the party chief Mayawati accusing the ruling BJP of “ignoring the farmer” and practising “politics of division” without any mention of either Babri mosque or Ram temple.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who has rigorously projected his image of a “janaudhaari Brahmin” with several visits to different temples in the ongoing assembly elections, tweeted a picture of himself offering salutations to BR Ambedkar on Thursday.

The effort clearly is to diffuse any efforts to mould the public discourse on communally polarised lines.

Similarly, the usually loquacious figures on twitter and social media such as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav kept their distance from Babri mosque, while the Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her party observes December 6 as “Sanhati Dibas”. The appeal was clearly for people of all faith to stay united.

With even the All India Babri Masjid Action (AIBMA) keeping a low profile and the opposition ignoring the VHP’s renewed cry of action, Babri mosque seemed finally to have been relegated to history.