For Ayodhya residents, peace more important than Ram temple; Hindus, Muslims resent extremists threatening communal harmony
“Ayodhya’s communal harmony is exemplary and should be an ideal for the world to follow.” This is what Gulnaaz Begum, 33, has to say as she sips her tea in the garden outside her home, located at a stone’s throw away from the disputed site.…
The town remains a powder keg as Hindutva fringe groups keep stirring the communal cauldron by constantly demanding a quick decision by the BJP central government on construction of a grand Ram Temple. Some of these groups go to the extent of threatening to start the construction on their own, if the government does not accept their demands.…
But electoral compulsions have their own dynamic. Political commentator JP Shukla is convinced that the stakes are higher for the BJP in the coming elections and the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya will again be a big campaign plank. “It is one of those issues which can bring you to power but it is not going to be easy as the BJP did nothing in the last five years and now people are understanding that this poll promise was nothing more than a jumla.” Yet, in the end, as Shukla said, “for the citizens of Ayodhya, the only resolution is peace and nothing else”.
