Painted in muddy brown and with red flags tied on its window grills, a train is waiting for the whistle in a station somewhere in the north India. The subtitles in faded white on the bottom of the screen say the passengers are people on their way to Ayodhya in response to the call from the secular forces to resist the Sangh Parivar's march to demolish the Babri Masjid, though they are lesser in number compared to the religious fanatics who thronged the ancient city.
Over the visuals of the calm station is heard a voice, loud and vivid. The man invisible is heard as saying: “Forty-three years of Independence and prices hit the sky. Thousands of youths are unemployed. Over half the population is Below the Poverty Line. Illness and illiteracy are rampant. but it would seem from recent events that none of these problems exist. The only issue is that of temple and mosque.” That was A.B. Bardhan as the visuals would soon show a man — clean shaven, well dressed, strong in appearance and determined in voice — addressing a large audience which has the face of the rural India.
Raam Ke Naam (In the name of God), the documentary by Anand Patwardhan, which is considered as a textbook on the demolition of the Babri Masjid, an extremist act by the Sangh Parivar which had the evil power to bifurcate the history of India, shows Bardhan as the 'voice' of the Indian secular forces, which he truly was.
The nonagenarian leader, who lost his battle with paralyctic stroke at a Delhi hospital on Saturday was a champion of the cause of secularism which is at the core of Indian democracy and unfortunately seems to be under threat now.
Bardhan with V.S. AchuthanandanHis speech, attacking the Hindutva forces, which were working day in and out to hit hard on the secular spirit and translate hatred into votes, with unhindered rhetoric and unchallengeable logic stands testimony to his political will and pragmatic wisdom.
“In the name of Lord Ram, a politician on a chariot painted with his party's symbol (Lotus), holding aloft the party flag of the BJP rides across the country. Why does he do it? To gather votes for the BJP for the next elections? To plan how 88 seats can be made into 188? I say these pipe dreams will be shattered,” Bardhan told a cheering audience referring to the Rath Yatra of L.K. Advani, the prelude to the Masjid demolition.
Despite being a hard-core Marxist, for whom religion was the opium of the people, Bardhan never attacked the faith of the mass, although his party principles might have demanded that. Instead, treading the pragmatist path, Bardhan chose to resist the Hindutva fundamental forces by reminding them that the large majority who believed in the religion in whose name they were trying to convert the nation had always stood with the cause of secularism.
“... The majority of Hindus of this land have embraced secularism. If India is a secular state today, a great part of the credit goes to the 85 per cent of Hindu majority of the country. But neither Gandhi nor Nehru nor the hundreds of martyrs who climbed the gallows for Independence none of them gave their lives for a Hindu nation. Never forget that,” Bardhan said.
“But I marvel at the stubbornness of these people (Sangh Parivar). They will build a temple at the very same spot! And that too after demolishing the masjid. Is this the honour of Ram? Ayodhya is the birthplace of Ram. Granted. I accept this as an article of faith for Hindus. But I defy Mr. Advani or anyone to tell me which piece of land in Ayodhya is not sacred? Which piece of land in Ayodhya is not blessed with the memory of Lord Ram? You can build a temple anywhere in Ayodhya. All of us have agreed to that thousands of times. You can build a temple, and a grand one, but do not insist that the temple be built only after demolishing the mosque. We who believe in the red flag, and others here we respect all religions. For the identity and belief of one religion, you cannot attack and break others',” Bardhan said in an animated voice.
Bardhan with Prakash KaratA visionary, he was sure that the Rath Yatra was part of a larger scheme to ascend the throne at the cost of Indian secularism.
He believed that those who wish to preserve Hindu fundamentalism and swear by the caste system, which visionaries and saints fought for centuries, wanted to unfurl their flags over destroyed mosques. “Recognise them. Understand their mentality. Today all these forces have come together. So I say the temple will be built but the mosque will remain,” Bardhan said, though history proved otherwise.
Now, the mosque is demolished and stones have been piled up for building the temple. The man who rode the chariot over the heart of secularism has been sidelined and replaced.
As Bardhan leaves for eternity, it's high time that all those who wish to preserve the spirit of secularism repeated what the Communist leader said two decades ago:
“I say these pipe dreams will be shattered...”
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