Editorial: Muslim vote dictates Congress decision?

The Congress leaders, while declining the invitation for the January 22 consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, lamented that the RSS-BJP is taking credit for the momentous event. If that is so, the Congress has no one else to blame than itself. For, all through the long struggle for the Ram temple at his perceived birthplace, the Congress record has been most duplicitous. It opposed the Ram temple campaign to begin with, then opened the gates of the disputed structure in Ayodhya; it allowed the shilanayas at a disputed spot in Ayodhya, then had the temerity to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court to question the existence of Lord Rama. It talks of the separation of politics and religion, but at election time its leaders go around visiting temples, claiming to be “Janeaudhari” Hindus and Shiv bhakts. As for the credit for the temple in Ayodhya, isn’t it only right that those who spearheaded the temple movement should get the credit? Congress legitimately cannot lay claim to it. Meanwhile, its refusal to attend the temple inauguration will at least save it the wrath of the Muslim minority. It may be with an eye on the Muslim vote that the Congress decided to turn down the invitation. But as its senior leader Karan Singh said, there was no reason for Sonia Gandhi, after welcoming the Supreme Court verdict awarding the disputed site for the Ram temple, not to attend its consecration. But then the Congress has always been woolly-headed on big issues.