<p>The first question that arises about the ‘bhoomipujan’ for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, to be done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, is whether this is the right time for it. The nation is in the grip of a pandemic with over 50,000 people getting infected every day, many dying and the scourge spreading and aggravating by the day.</p>.<p>The economy is in the doldrums and large numbers of people have lost their jobs and livelihood, and it’s is worsening.</p>.<p>There is a national security threat on the border with China. Starting the construction of the Ram temple and making a big celebration of it in this situation does not reflect well on the priorities of the government. Is it such an urgent matter that it cannot wait for some months?</p>.<p>The chosen date of August 5 is significant because it marks the first anniversary of the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. That underlines the political importance of the event for all those who are behind it and involved in it. </p>.<p>It is the obvious politics of the event that makes it wrong and inappropriate for the Prime Minister to be associated with it. He will not just be involved in it, but will be the main participant, presiding over it. It is not right for the Prime Minister of the country, who is oath-bound to protect a secular Constitution, to be at the centre-stage of an event that is the culmination of a divisive and fractious political campaign.</p>.<p>The nation has accepted the Supreme Court's verdict on Ayodhya, but there is no reason for the Government of India to be involved in the construction of the temple, which is what the Prime Minister’s presence and participation shows. Even the State-owned information and publicity systems have been deployed in its service. This happens only in a religious State. </p>.<p>That is the message that the Prime Minister perhaps wants to send out through the launching of the construction of the temple. The temple at Ayodhya is at the heart of the BJP’s politics, and the party's and the entire Sangh Parivar’s campaign in the last few decades has revolved around it.</p>.<p>The Prime Minister will be talking and acting that politics in Ayodhya and the temple will be its symbol. But the point needs to be made again that it is wrong to obfuscate the difference between the government and the party and between the Prime Minister and the politician in matters that are of crucial importance to the nature of the State and the working of the Constitution that underlies it. </p>
<p>The first question that arises about the ‘bhoomipujan’ for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, to be done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, is whether this is the right time for it. The nation is in the grip of a pandemic with over 50,000 people getting infected every day, many dying and the scourge spreading and aggravating by the day.</p>.<p>The economy is in the doldrums and large numbers of people have lost their jobs and livelihood, and it’s is worsening.</p>.<p>There is a national security threat on the border with China. Starting the construction of the Ram temple and making a big celebration of it in this situation does not reflect well on the priorities of the government. Is it such an urgent matter that it cannot wait for some months?</p>.<p>The chosen date of August 5 is significant because it marks the first anniversary of the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. That underlines the political importance of the event for all those who are behind it and involved in it. </p>.<p>It is the obvious politics of the event that makes it wrong and inappropriate for the Prime Minister to be associated with it. He will not just be involved in it, but will be the main participant, presiding over it. It is not right for the Prime Minister of the country, who is oath-bound to protect a secular Constitution, to be at the centre-stage of an event that is the culmination of a divisive and fractious political campaign.</p>.<p>The nation has accepted the Supreme Court's verdict on Ayodhya, but there is no reason for the Government of India to be involved in the construction of the temple, which is what the Prime Minister’s presence and participation shows. Even the State-owned information and publicity systems have been deployed in its service. This happens only in a religious State. </p>.<p>That is the message that the Prime Minister perhaps wants to send out through the launching of the construction of the temple. The temple at Ayodhya is at the heart of the BJP’s politics, and the party's and the entire Sangh Parivar’s campaign in the last few decades has revolved around it.</p>.<p>The Prime Minister will be talking and acting that politics in Ayodhya and the temple will be its symbol. But the point needs to be made again that it is wrong to obfuscate the difference between the government and the party and between the Prime Minister and the politician in matters that are of crucial importance to the nature of the State and the working of the Constitution that underlies it. </p>