BENGALURU: Former minister and senior BJP leader Suresh Kumar has written to International Booker Prize awardee Banu Mushtaq, saying “you don’t need to worship Ram or show reverence to that great King who ruled Ayodhya. But at the same time, you cannot identify with an invader and equate the mosque built in his name with secularism and pluralism”.
Suresh was reacting to Banu’s statement made at the Bangalore Lit Fest, stating that India lost its pluralism when the Babri Masjid was brought down.
He explained that there is something called “collective self-respect, dignity and honour” of the people, irrespective of their mode of worship, beliefs, caste, creed, region and religion. “This collective self-respect, dignity and honour were hit by an invader by name Babar.
He came to Ayodhya, demolished a temple that was in existence for thousands of years and constructed a mosque in his name, and this was the most brutal assault on the collective psyche, self-respect, dignity and honour of Hindus,” he said.
The row is not between Ram Temple and Babri Masjid; it is the question of the nation’s identity. With whom must this nation identify -- Ram or Babar? The people of India – irrespective of their religion, mode of worship, caste, creed and belief – need to identify with Ram because Ram is an Indian and Babar is an invader.