If he had been the king of India today, he would have punished those who lynched Muslims, vandalised churches or oppressed the Dalits
Today, in the polarised and emotionally-surcharged and communalised atmosphere which has been created by the “Hindutva” forces that have taken control of India, Rama may be depicted and regarded by the Indian minorities (particularly the Muslims) as a fearsome oppressive entity, which symbolises lynching, terrorising and atrocities on them. But was Rama really like that?
We need not go into the controversy whether Rama was a mythological or historical figure, though it may be mentioned that behind every mythology there is usually some history. Homer’s epic poem Iliad is regarded as Greek mythology but some evidence of a Trojan war has been found by archaeologists.
Similarly, my own opinion is that Rama was a great king who did good deeds and was later transformed into a god.
Indeed, in the original Ramayana of Valmiki (in Sanskrit) Rama is not a god but a human being. He was a prince, who later became the king of Ayodhya. It was about 2,000 years later, in the 16th century, that he was transformed into a god by Tulsidas in his epic Ramcharitmanas.
In Valmiki’s Ramayana (which is the original Ramayana) there is a scene where king Dasharatha of Ayodhya, having become old, wants to anoint his eldest son Rama as his successor. But before doing so, he invites the people of Ayodhya and seeks their opinion on the issue. He wants to know whether they think that Rama deserves to be their king after him.
The people of Ayodhya reply: “Nikhilenanu poorvya cha pita putraan iva aurasaan. Shrushushante cha woh shishya kachit varmasu danshitaah. Iti woh purush vyaagrah sada Ramobhibhaashate. Vyasaneshu manushyaanam bhrisham bhavati dukhitah. Utsaveshu cha sarveshu pitev paritushyati. (O King, your son Rama indeed deserves to be the king. He behaves like a father to the people. He grieves when the people are in sorrow due to some calamity or tragedy and is pleased like a father when the people celebrate festivals.)”
So, in the original Ramayana, prince Rama is described as a father to the people of the kingdom, who cares for all of them. A true father is one who takes care of all his children and not he that looks after only some and oppresses the others.
So if Rama had been the king of India today, he would have looked after the welfare of all the people of the country and not that he would have only looked after the Hindus and oppressed the Christians, the Muslims, the Sikhs, the Parsis, the Dalits and other religious minorities. In fact, without a doubt, the just king Rama, would have given severe punishment to those who lynched Muslims or committed atrocities on them, vandalised churches or oppressed the Dalits and other marginalised or weaker sections of Indian society.
In fact, I consider Rama, the just king, to be the great grandfather of the Indian nation. Just as I consider the third Mughal emperor Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605, the “father of the Indian nation” and Emperor Ashoka, who ruled from 268 to 232 BC, the “grandfather of the Indian nation.”
Let me explain why I called Akbar, the “father of the Indian nation.” What we Indians are today is largely because of the solid foundation laid by Akbar, who gave equal respect to all religions. Because of Akbar, we are Indians, not just Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and so on. And yet the tragedy is that many Hindus call Akbar a Muslim, while many Muslims call him a Hindu (because he observed many Hindu festivals and ceremonies).
The truth is that while being a Sunni Muslim, Akbar was a true Indian and saw that Bharat was a country of great diversity. Hence the only way to keep the country united was by giving equal respect to all communities and sects. It was because of this realisation that Akbar adopted the wise policy of Suleh-e-Kul, that is, universal toleration of all religions. This was in the 16th century when Europeans were massacring each other in the name of religion, Catholics killing Protestants and vice versa, and both murdering the Jews.
Going on to emperor Ashoka. I called him the “grandfather of the Indian nation” because of what he said in his 12th major rock edict: “All religions should be honoured. Whoever praises his own religion due to excessive devotion and condemns others, with the thought ‘Let me glorify my own belief’ only harms his own religion. Therefore contact (between faiths) is good. One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others.”
These men were far ahead of their times in their thinking and were true Indians in every sense of the word and Rama is the great grandfather of the Indian nation.
(The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.)