The foreign media has been spreading lies and half-truths about the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony, and BBC Tamil News channel has jumped into the fray. In a video posted on 22 January 2024, the channel had asked opinions from selected commoners in the Muslim community about the consecration ceremony. The opinion said by the people in the interview is biased against the construction of Ram Mandir, riddled with misinformation.
The video begins with a short history starting from the demolition of Babri Masjid until the construction of Ram Mandir on the site, mentioning that the ceremony happened at the time when the LS elections are closing in. The narrator then says they asked the opinion of Tamil Nadu Muslims on this issue. The list of the opinions shared by the commoners in the video is translated and given below:
"அயோத்தியும் ராமரும் இல்லைனா பாஜகவே இல்ல…" தமிழ்நாடு முஸ்லிம்கள் என்ன சொல்கிறார்கள்?#Ayodhya #TamilMuslims #RamMandir #Ramtemple pic.twitter.com/isaCS0DJKT
— BBC News Tamil (@bbctamil) January 22, 2024
A man named Sathakkathulla says, ‘We see this consecration as the right to worship of the Hindus. But at the same time, for us Muslims, we see this as a pain. Going a step ahead, the Sangh Parivar groups are saying they will destroy Kasi, Mathura and 3000 more places of worship. This creates fear in us. The international community should monitor this. We should believe that there is still democracy and justice in India and give us our right to worship.‘
Sirajuddin says, ‘In the year 2019 they gave the verdict. Even in that, they didn’t say there was Ramar temple in this place. It is also seen clearly that they destroyed the Babri Masjid and constructed the Ram Mandir there now. We can see that this betrayal is being celebrated today.‘
Mumtaj says, ‘This is injustice and betrayal against a particular community. 100% politics. Without Ramar and Babar BJP will not exist today. This is something what they have done for politics…to assume power, but I don’t see any ‘bhakthi’ towards Rama in this. No religion supports violence. On that basis, if Rama was here, he will not allow occupying the place of worship of another community. Even Hanuman will not allow this.‘
Nishana says, ‘We see this (Ram Mandir) as a building created out of the tears of Muslims. We view this as a great injustice to the Muslims. Whenever we see that building, we are reminded of the injustice done to the Muslims. We are reminded of every life killed there when we see that.‘
Abdhul Raheem says, ‘If you are celebrating the “Ram Jenma Bhumi” where a mosque was demolished, then all the Muslims all over the world we condemn this. We are not happy. Just because we are peaceful, the PM is saying we have agreed to this. But no true Muslim will agree to this.‘
Kaja Muhaideen says, ‘We are not sad about the temple or the Gods being worshipped because everybody has a different way of worshipping and faiths. But after saying that it is Babri Masjid through court and through misuse of your power you took it from us and in front of our eyes to prove your majoritarianism constructing a temple in that same place, we don’t agree to it soulfully. Whether you feel ashamed for it or not, but we do.’
Abdul Hakkeem says, ‘They are building a temple quickly and opening it. Only a particular group of people take part in it. The majority of the people are being ignored. Dalits, Islamists and the downtrodden are entirely ignored. Even the president has been ignored. As a commoner, I am asking, what happened to the mosque there? Why can’t you build a mosque there and open it along with the temple? We would have gone there happily. We could have participated in the consecration ceremony together. We expected a festival like that.‘
Benazir says, ‘I feel that the majority of the Hindus have been fooled. Because I see this (Ram Mandir) was constructed on lies. Because even if Rama came back and said I was not born here, “that crowd” will not believe that, is my instinct. This place of worship was created to make communal clashes and destroy the peace in the nation. Today everyone has some worship and nobody critics about the worship of the other person. The problem here is the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque and the repeated lie that a temple was destroyed, and the mosque was built on it. Because of this (lie) the generations until now have been affected. The generations after this will also be affected is our concern.‘
While the majority of the Muslims in the nation has no animosity about the consecration festival, some media houses have been deliberately trying to flare up communal tensions by cherry-picking the sentiments of a handful of people and amplifying as the voice of the majority. However, due to the sensibilities of the Indian community, such efforts have been thwarted successfully.
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.