New Delhi: Jai Shri Ram, the speaker bellows into a microphone. Rows and rows of saffron-clad sadhus raise both arms vigorously and respond even louder: “Jai Shri Ram.”
Despite rallying in unison at a conference here last week, the Vishwa Hindu Parshad (VHP) is far from religious harmony as the fraternity of Hindus finds itself at a bit of a crossroads, or perhaps more aptly, on the brink of a shaky bridge, the Adams Bridge in Tamil Nadu.
If it manages to cross to the other side, it could partner with other groups, environmentalists to preservationists, to try and save the walkway between India and Sri Lanka. It might discover that moderation and development-based campaigns could replace older strategies that only rely on dogma where all issues are painted in religious tones that divide Hindus and Muslims. And if successful, the VHP also has a chance to try forge a more pan-national identity for itself and help the Bhartiya Janata Party’s spread deeper into South India.
The evolution will not be easy or, according to some observers, will perhaps be impossible. But, the religious conference organized by the VHP here to devise strategies for saving the sand bar bridge—dubbed Ram Sethu and which the group steadfastly believes was built for Hindu king Ram, and now faces demolition to shorten shipping routes—made clear that there’s clearly dissent among the ranks.
More than 5,000 sadhus, including some 300 from South India, protested the destruction of what they termed “Hinduism’s oldest symbol” and vowed to protect it with their lives if needed. They talked about pictures of the bridge that Nasa satellites had taken, a bridge they claimed was a man-made relic from 1.75 million years ago.
Although the South has not really participated in VHP campaigns before, this time geography may be forging new allies—and new worship of Ram, seen historically by some, for instance, as an anti-Tamil god. Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy, the founder of the Dravidian political movement, once described the Aryan prince as a “despicable character.” Last week, though, the southern sadhus said an attack on the Ram Sethu was indeed an attack on all of Hinduism.
“This is the time for all of us to stand up and force the Government of India to protect Hindu heritage. All Indians must participate. We have no time to lose,” said Vidya Bhaskar Tirth Maharaj of Karnataka, addressing sadhus in a pandal at Ramlila Maidan.
There were the old allies, too: about one-fifth of the crowd gathered to protect this bridge hailed from Ayodhya, participants in the bloody razing of the Babri Masjid to “recover” Ram’s birthplace in 1992.