Ayodhya: Temple to open at Indiaâs religious fault-line
Santosh Dubey says he has no regrets he helped tear down the mosque.
“It was religious work and I was put on this Earth to complete the task,” he says. “There is no crime or sin in it.”
Mr Dubey, a “kar sevak” (religious worker), was one of hundreds of thousands of Hindu men who demolished the 16th Century Babri Masjid in the Indian holy city of Ayodhya on 6 December 1992.
It was one of independent India’s darkest days. The disputed site sits on one of its biggest religious fault-lines – thousands were killed in the violence that broke out.
More than 30 years later, where the mosque once stood a grand temple to Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities, is about to be opened by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That’s controversial in a country with a secular constitution, but especially so because of the divisive history of the site.
Monday’s ceremony is being seen as the informal start of his campaign for re-election this year, wooing India’s Hindu majority. Across the country, millions of Hindus are gearing up to celebrate the day like a big festival, while employees of Mr Modi’s federal government have been given a half day.
Sitting in his crumbling home, in a narrow alley in the city, paint and plaster peeling off its walls, Mr Dubey says he’s proud of what he achieved.
“If we had not done what we did then the temple could never have been built,” he says. “Religious sentiments are greater than the constitution. I am extremely happy now. I had taken a pledge that I would not repair my home until Lord Ram got his.”
But for Muslims, who make up India’s biggest minority, the day will evoke fear and painful memories. Some will send their children out of the city, fearing tensions might be stoked when the streets fill with Hindu devotees from around the country.
“We have been betrayed once, so we feel fear,” says Mohammad Shahid. “Many outsiders will come into Ayodhya and it’s when outsiders come that there’s trouble.”
6 December 1992 was a defining moment in India’s history. It was also a pivotal event in the political rise of the Hindu right-wing that’s now seeking a third consecutive term in power.
Many Hindus believe Muslim emperor Babur destroyed a temple that stood at the birthplace of Lord Ram and built a mosque over it more than 500 years ago.
Santosh Dubey and dozens of others have faced charges and spent time in jail over the years, but no-one has been convicted for demolishing the mosque.
He doesn’t agree that what he did was against the law.
“Those who say that it was not Hindu to destroy the mosque are idiots. They are heretics, leftists, extremists and terrorists.
“We did not go to another country to destroy their places of worship, but if they destroyed ours, then it is right that we get them back.”
Muslims regularly offered prayers in the mosque until 1949, when idols of Lord Ram were placed in it, allegedly by Hindu priests. The gates of the mosque were then closed by a court order. In 1986, they were re-opened, many believe at the behest of the Congress party, then in power, in a rumoured attempt to woo the Hindu majority.
Then in 1990, the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – then just a small political party with little electoral success – spearheaded a mass campaign for a Hindu temple at the site. The campaign would later be seen as one of the key moments which transformed BJP into the virtually unbeatable political giant it is today, which now has Mr Modi at its head.
That year, hundreds of thousands of kar sevaks congregated in Ayodhya. When they started moving towards the disputed site, police fired at them, killing dozens. “Those bullets fuelled our anger,” Santosh Dubey says. He was injured in the shooting.
Two years later, kar sevaks gathered in Ayodhya again.
“The people who were guarding the disputed structure fled when they saw a huge crowd walking towards them with swords and hammers. We had practised everything earlier. We climbed on the domes and brought it down within a few hours.”
Mr Dubey shows us a black and white photo that appeared in a newspaper of a group of men brandishing their weapons with raised arms, wide smiles on their faces. He says it was taken before the mosque was razed.
“We were happy, because we knew what was going to happen that day,” he says, pointing to himself in the photo.
For Ayodhya’s Muslims it was a day of terror.
“Hundreds of thousands of men were all over Ayodhya. They had sticks, swords and tridents. Our house was surrounded by them,” says Anwari Begum, now 65.
“We ran from our homes. I ran with my six-month-old baby and small children. My husband was running behind us. When I turned, I saw that he had been caught by some men. We had to keep running for our lives.”
The next day she found out her husband Mohammad Amin had been killed, one of at least 17 Muslims who died in shocking violence in Ayodhya that day.
“An eyewitness told us that he had been caught, his arms and legs were chopped off, he was dumped into a sack and taken away. We never found his body,” she says breaking down.
When she returned to her home, she found it had been burnt to the ground. It would take time, but over the years the family would manage to rebuild a small, two-room home on the same site.
“My husband used to take care of our family. I was left alone with six small children. We got some money from the government but it was not enough. My life was destroyed by that day,” she says.
In the violence that swept across India after the mosque was torn down, nearly 2,000 people were killed. More than 900 died in the financial capital, Mumbai, alone, roughly two-thirds of them were Muslims. There were killings in other cities including Jaipur, Bhopal, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
In Ayodhya, Mohammad Shahid’s father Mohammad Sabir was also killed brutally.
“They beat him and then they poured oil on both him and my uncle and set them on fire. We found their bodies,” he says. “The country wants to forget what happened. But Muslims can never forget. It was a black day for us.”
The family had a business supplying wooden carvings to temples in Ayodhya. The workshop was razed to the ground, and Mr Shahid was forced to become a rickshaw driver to earn a living.
Like Mr Shahid, Anwari Begum wants her son Sohrab, who’s in his 30s, to leave for his safety around the inauguration.
“I’m not scared, but I am nervous,” he told the BBC. “It’s being said that 70,000 to 100,000 people are coming. The atmosphere could become charged, that’s why Muslims are thinking of leaving. But I won’t go. I don’t think anything will happen.”
In Ayodhya, the temple site is abuzz with cranes and diggers sending dust into the air ahead of the inauguration. Thousands of workers in hard hats dot the area.
It’s costing $217m (£170m) to build the temple, funded from private donations, the temple trust says. The makeover of the city is being done by the government, estimated to cost more than $3bn.
Amid the construction, hundreds and hundreds of proud worshippers stream in to get a glimpse of the idols, with rituals for their consecration in the new temple already under way.
Poonam Ohri, 40, had tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. “Our dream has come true because of Modi and the BJP government. I am overwhelmed.”
Badri Narayan, an elderly farmer who had travelled hundreds of miles, said his happiness knew no bounds.
“When I visited before, Lord Ram’s idol was in a makeshift tent. It was getting wet in the rain. Tears started falling from my eyes seeing that,” he told the BBC. “And now he has been released because of Modi.”
Prime Minister Modi has asked people not to come to Ayodhya on 22 January and to light a lamp in their homes. But he’s also said everyone can visit from the next day.
And it is those days following the official ceremony which worry some in the Muslim community.
“If the government reached out to us and gave assurances that nothing will happen, that would prevent people from leaving, but so far they haven’t done that,” said Azam Qadri, a Muslim community leader.
Sohrab says “political leaders should have come to us and said what happened to you was wrong – they should have showed compassion, but they have not”.
As for the new temple that’s being opened, he says: “We feel happy they are building their temple, but we are also sad because it was built after destroying a mosque.”
Mohammad Shahid says Hindus have the right to build the temple after the Supreme Court gave them the site. “We did not accept that decision happily, but what can we do,” he says.
After years in the courts, the disputed site was handed over to Hindus by a Supreme Court judgment in 2019, despite the judges also finding that the mosque’s demolition had been illegal. The ruling relied on archaeological evidence which showed that features of the foundations of the mosque “are suggestive of a Hindu religious origin”.
It also said that evidence placed on the record proved that there was Hindu faith and belief that the site was the birthplace of Ram. It was not proved that a temple had been destroyed for the construction of the mosque.
It was not proved that a temple had been destroyed to build the mosque.
The court also ordered a separate plot be given to Muslims to construct a mosque. It’s 15 miles from Ayodhya, overgrown and empty.
It is simply too far away, says Mr Qadri: “If the government had given it as much attention by building roads and ring roads as it’s doing for the temple, then work would have started there too.”
Prime Minister Modi and the BJP are expected to sweep the general election later this year following the inauguration of the temple.
Many accuse him and his party of violating the constitution, of turning a religious event into a state-sponsored one.
But the BJP’s local MP, Lallu Singh, saw no reason why Mr Modi shouldn’t attend.
“If the prime minister is Hindu, why should he not visit the biggest centre of Hindu faith? What should stop him? Lord Ram is representative of the culture of this country,” he told the BBC.
“The culture of the majority dominates the country, so it is 100% right that the PM do the opening. This does not mean we are discriminating on the basis of religion.”
There is also controversy around moving the idols into an unfinished temple, with some Hindu religious leaders accusing the government of prioritising electoral gains over the sanctity of Hindu rituals.
“I don’t want to comment on what our religious leaders say. But the sanctum sanctorum where the idol will sit is complete. More worshippers will be able to come with ease now, that’s why we are opening it,” the MP says.
Back in 1992, the BJP’s senior leaders expressed regret over the demolition of the mosque and said it should never have happened. How does Lallu Singh feel about it now?
“I believe what happened was right,” he says.
Most Muslims and Hindus the BBC spoke to don’t think longer-term there will be more hostilities in Ayodhya.
But some see Ayodhya as just the start – disputes and court cases are already ongoing over mosques in the cities of Mathura and Varanasi, referred to many by its ancient name Kashi.
“We had to wait for 450 years to get the birthplace of Lord Ram. I hope Kashi and Mathura will be ours soon too,” says Aakash Jadhav, a 21-year-old Hindu devotee.
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Pheu Thai eyes Preah Vihear temple
PUBLISHED : 21 Jan 2024 at 06:39
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Access to the ancient temple from Si Sa Ket’s Kantharalak district has been blocked since 2008 following border clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops.
Phumin Leethiraprasert, a Pheu Thai MP in Si Sa Ket’s Constituency 4, said MPs are invited to meet the prime minister on Wednesday to brief him on Thai-Cambodian issues ahead of Hun Manet’s official visit on Feb 7.
He said the party MPs will take the opportunity to ask Mr Srettha to hold talks with the Cambodian prime minister about reopening tourism around the Preah Vihear temple complex.
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There have been attempts to restore access to the culturally and historically significant site in recent months and the issue has also drawn interest from the House committee on foreign affairs chaired by Pheu Thai MP Noppadon Patama.
Earlier this month, the panel summonsed Anupong Suksomnit, the governor of Si Sa Ket, and the military to provide information about the border tensions. Mr Anupong told the meeting that provincial authorities agreed at their meeting in November last year to ask the Thai and Cambodian governments to work together to foster tourism around the temple complex.
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Mr Noppadon, a former foreign minister, also expressed support for the reopening which would bolster border trade, investments and strengthen ties between local people.
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Forensic investigators finish identifying 23 bodies from blast
PUBLISHED : 21 Jan 2024 at 06:32
The identification of the 23 bodies of the workers and others who were killed by an explosion at a fireworks factory in Muang district of Suphan Buri last Thursday is now complete.
The remains of the bodies have been sent to victim’s families. Water in all the nearby ponds was also drained out to find any further human remains and chemical residues.
According to deputy national police chief Pol Gen Kittirat Phanphet, police discovered one human leg in the pond, which was the last of the missing human parts.
Using fingerprint and DNA examination, forensic experts were able to complete the identification of all 23 bodies.
The return of the bodies or their remains to the families was to be finished by Saturday, according to Pol Gen Kittirat.
Meanwhile, Papinwit Laongkaew, chief of the Suphan Buri Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, said the Suphan Buri provincial governor has been instructed to provide swift assistance to surrounding areas.
They must also check the water quality to ensure there was no contamination in surrounding water.
Mr Papinwit also met state agencies to conclude the operation results in providing initial assistance to affected people, including the identification of the bodies and the compiling of evidence to provide compensation to the deceased’s families.
The meeting then decided to close the assistance centre at Wat Rong Chang.
Despite the closure of the centre, various agencies, including the police and Salakhao Tambon Administration Organisation, continue to provide assistance at Wat Rong Chang in Tambon Salakhao, he added.
All the 23 bodies will be taken to undergo religious funeral rites in their hometown.
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Election Commission refuses to comment on legality of 10K handout
PUBLISHED : 21 Jan 2024 at 06:23
The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday refused to be drawn into a debate on the legality of the 500-billion-baht digital wallet handout scheme, which some think is at risk of violating the law if it is funded by loans.
EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said the agency could not answer whether the change in the source of money to fund the handout programme would break the law.
When asked if it would submit its views to the government, he said the EC’s review of party campaign promises centres upon where the funds come from and insisted the EC is not in a position to give its opinions.
The legality of the scheme is being questioned after the Pheu Thai-led government is now planning to raise 500 billion baht in loans to fund the scheme. During the election campaign, the Pheu Thai Party said it would not resort to loans.
A panel set up by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to study the handout programme points to the changes in how the programme would be funded, from the national budget to seeking out loans.
Some analysts warn that if the loan bill is pushed, the scheme could violate the State Fiscal and Financial Discipline Act because the country shows no signs of being in a crisis that would warrant such a scheme to urgently shore up the economy.
Mr Sawang also said there were 756 projects similar to the digital wallet programme floated during the election campaign, and the estimated cost of all these projects combined was approximately 70 trillion baht.
However, the EC’s role is limited to examining if these policies are in violation of the election laws and it does not assess the merits of the campaign promises. He said that evaluating the feasibility or merits of such promises is for the voters.
The EC’s secretary-general also said it is not always possible for politicians to fully implement every campaign promise.
“Some campaign proposals weren’t implemented at all and some were implemented in a way that was different from what was initially promised. The EC has a limited mandate and can do only what is allowed by the law,” he said.
Chief Ombudsman Somsak Suwansujarit said his office is still gathering facts about the digital wallet handout scheme to determine its legality.
However, it remains unclear how the government will implement it, he said.
He said that unlike the NACC, the Office of Ombudsman is not authorised to make recommendations to the government and it can only act when alleged violations of the constitution are committed.
EC refuses to comment on legality of 10K handout
PUBLISHED : 21 Jan 2024 at 06:23
The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday refused to be drawn into a debate on the legality of the 500-billion-baht digital wallet handout scheme, which some think is at risk of violating the law if it is funded by loans.
EC secretary-general Sawang Boonmee said the agency could not answer whether the change in the source of money to fund the handout programme would break the law.
When asked if it would submit its views to the government, he said the EC’s review of party campaign promises centres upon where the funds come from and insisted the EC is not in a position to give its opinions.
The legality of the scheme is being questioned after the Pheu Thai-led government is now planning to raise 500 billion baht in loans to fund the scheme. During the election campaign, the Pheu Thai Party said it would not resort to loans.
A panel set up by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to study the handout programme points to the changes in how the programme would be funded, from the national budget to seeking out loans.
Some analysts warn that if the loan bill is pushed, the scheme could violate the State Fiscal and Financial Discipline Act because the country shows no signs of being in a crisis that would warrant such a scheme to urgently shore up the economy.
Mr Sawang also said there were 756 projects similar to the digital wallet programme floated during the election campaign, and the estimated cost of all these projects combined was approximately 70 trillion baht.
However, the EC’s role is limited to examining if these policies are in violation of the election laws and it does not assess the merits of the campaign promises. He said that evaluating the feasibility or merits of such promises is for the voters.
The EC’s secretary-general also said it is not always possible for politicians to fully implement every campaign promise.
“Some campaign proposals weren’t implemented at all and some were implemented in a way that was different from what was initially promised. The EC has a limited mandate and can do only what is allowed by the law,” he said.
Chief Ombudsman Somsak Suwansujarit said his office is still gathering facts about the digital wallet handout scheme to determine its legality.
However, it remains unclear how the government will implement it, he said.
He said that unlike the NACC, the Office of Ombudsman is not authorised to make recommendations to the government and it can only act when alleged violations of the constitution are committed.
Attack sparks alarm as gaurs run amok in Korat
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On Jan 11, a mother and her seven-year-old daughter riding on a motorbike were injured during an encounter with an agitated gaur along Highway No 3052 between Wang Nam Khieo and Pak Chong district.
The animal rammed the motorbike, sending it skidding across the road’s surface. The girl was caught on the gaur’s horns and carried off into a nearby forest as the bull scurried across the road.
The mother chased after the gaur and rescued her daughter lying injured about 100 metres in the forest. The girl was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a larger hospital in the province.
Members of the Wang Nam Khieo tourism club on Saturday urged state agencies to consider erecting more light poles along the highway to help with visibility. They said there have been multiple incidents involving wild gaurs and motorists at night.
The club also proposed agencies improve areas containing food for gaurs and other animals at the Thap Lan and Khao Yai National Parks to prevent them from leaving the forests.
The population of herbivores at both national parks has been steadily rising, there is no longer enough food for all of them. This explains why a number of animals have started migrating closer to human communities, it said.
“For the sake of the welfare of animals and humans, these responses must be implemented as soon as possible so that they can live peacefully together,” it said.
Annop Buanuan, head of the office managing Khao Yai National Park’s Khao Phaeng Ma Non-Hunting Area, said the gaur in the recent attack had wandered from Khao Phaeng Ma to find food.
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Revised law encourages students to repay loans
PUBLISHED : 21 Jan 2024 at 06:02
The Student Loan Fund (SLF) has bad debts that have reached 100 billion baht, but new measures under the amended Student Loan Fund Act of 2023 are hoped to encourage borrowers to repay their debts.
Chainarong Katchapanan, manager of the SLF, said the accumulated amount of non-performing loans has almost doubled from 60 billion baht in 2017 to 100 billion baht now.
The bad debts have spiked because borrowers are believed to have prioritised the repayment of other debts, such as credit card debt and mortgages, over their student loans, he said.
However, new calculation methods introduced in the amended act are expected to encourage borrowers to repay their debts, to reduce the number of non-performing loans and ensure the SLF remains financially sustainable in the long term, he said.
Under the revised law, when a borrower makes a repayment on a defaulted loan, the money is first used to pay off the principal balance of the loan, then the accrued interest, and then any outstanding fines.
This runs contrary to the original terms, in which the money was first used to pay off outstanding fines and the accrued interest. In the past, it was only once the fines and accrued interest had been paid off that repayments were used to pay the principal.
Moreover, the amended law caps the interest on loans at no more than 1% per year and requires defaulters to pay a fine of 0.5% annually. This is also opposed to the original term in which the SLF charged borrowers 1% per year and the default fine was 7.5%.
Mr Chainarong said the change is hoped to encourage borrowers to make payments because it ensures the money is used to pay the principal balance first, reducing their loan balance as quickly as possible.
According to the SLF manager, the SLF has 3.5 million borrowers with loans totalling 480 billion baht.
Student Loan Fund bad debts total B100bn
Revised law encourages students to repay loans
PUBLISHED : 21 Jan 2024 at 06:02
The Student Loan Fund (SLF) has bad debts that have reached 100 billion baht, but new measures under the amended Student Loan Fund Act of 2023 are hoped to encourage borrowers to repay their debts.
Chainarong Katchapanan, manager of the SLF, said the accumulated amount of non-performing loans has almost doubled from 60 billion baht in 2017 to 100 billion baht now.
The bad debts have spiked because borrowers are believed to have prioritised the repayment of other debts, such as credit card debt and mortgages, over their student loans, he said.
However, new calculation methods introduced in the amended act are expected to encourage borrowers to repay their debts, to reduce the number of non-performing loans and ensure the SLF remains financially sustainable in the long term, he said.
Under the revised law, when a borrower makes a repayment on a defaulted loan, the money is first used to pay off the principal balance of the loan, then the accrued interest, and then any outstanding fines.
This runs contrary to the original terms, in which the money was first used to pay off outstanding fines and the accrued interest. In the past, it was only once the fines and accrued interest had been paid off that repayments were used to pay the principal.
Moreover, the amended law caps the interest on loans at no more than 1% per year and requires defaulters to pay a fine of 0.5% annually. This is also opposed to the original term in which the SLF charged borrowers 1% per year and the default fine was 7.5%.
Mr Chainarong said the change is hoped to encourage borrowers to make payments because it ensures the money is used to pay the principal balance first, reducing their loan balance as quickly as possible.
According to the SLF manager, the SLF has 3.5 million borrowers with loans totalling 480 billion baht.