Sinister yatra

The controversy created over a hallowed Sufi shrine at Chikmagalur in Karnataka seems to be politically motivated. Those bent upon making...

The controversy created over a hallowed Sufi shrine at Chikmagalur in Karnataka seems to be politically motivated. Those bent upon making it into another Ayodhya pay scant regard to the traditions that go back several centuries in which Hindus and Muslims have peacefully worshipped at the shrine. The Muslims venerate the spot because of its association with a Muslim Sufi saint Baba Budan.

The Hindu tradition has it that Swami Dattatreya meditated there, which makes it sacred for the Hindus. In any case, the Chikmagalur shrine is not exceptional. There are countless such shrines all over the country where the two communities have traditionally worshipped. This is what makes the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal8217;s campaign to liberate8217; the shrine highly suspect.

Even if the argument that over the years the shrine8217;s management has fallen into Muslim hands and that it is becoming more a Muslim than a Hindu worship centre is true it does not call for the kind of yatra8217; the Hindutva forces propose toliberate it. It is worth recalling that the Bodh Gaya temple, the most sacred worship centre of the Buddhists the world over, has remained under the control of Hindus for centuries. The VHP campaign may not have any popular support but its potential for mischief cannot be discounted. This makes it obligatory for the central and state governments to help sort out the matter while taking every step necessary to ensure law and order in the area.

The fear that the Hindutva forces are testing the waters is not out of place. It is worth recalling that in Ayodhya too, it was the VHP which began the agitation. The BJP joined it only when it felt that it could be used for building up a Hindu vote bank. Thus any silence by the BJP on the issue will be construed as indirect support to the political machinations now going on in the name of liberating the shrine. But as has been found out, the political utility of such emotive issues is limited. Ayodhya no longer catches the voters8217; imagination, as successive electionshave proved. It is in recognition of this political reality that it is no longer high on the BJP8217;s agenda.

That the efforts made by the BJP to cash in on the Saraswati Vandana controversy in the recent Assembly elections in four main states failed to impress voters proves the point further that mixing of religion and politics is considered reprehensible by the average voter. But to expect the hotheads to be sensitive enough to realise this is to not know them. Any prompt disinclination to denounce the sinister bid to build up communal tension will eventually call for a heavy price.

Assuming that there is a dispute at Chikama-galur, there are certainly ways to sort them out. The manner in which the Nilackal dispute in Kerala between the Hindus and Christians was ended in the Eighties to the complete satisfaction of the two communities is a case in point. In no case should such disputes be allowed to stand in the way of traditions whereby the pilgrimage to Sabari-mala is not considered complete without astopover at Erumeli to pray at Vavar8217;s mosque and Hindus and Muslims rub shoulders at Ajmer to seek heavenly blessings. The religious traditions of the country that make India unique are far more precious than whether a Muslim or Hindu heads a small shrine in a small town.