There may indeed be some hidden treasure – it is a pretty large area that the sadhu has specified and all of it is under the ruins of a royal fort. Quite likely to have hidden treasure, one would think
Why is it so startling that the Archaeological Survey of India is digging for gold based on a dream by a ‘swami’? If the seer saw it, how can we – in a secular democracy – not pursue it? After all, are we not entitled to our beliefs? Do we not have the freedom to dream? Is the government not supposed to help our dreams come true? Would it not be criminal for the government of a poor country to stand by, refusing to extract buried wealth that could boost the economy, help reduce poverty and bring some development at least to the area it belongs to?
For decades we have insisted that individual belief and shared faith are just as important as science and history. We have deployed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to deliberate on whether the Ram Setu was indeed man made – er… perhaps made by Lord Ram? We have frowned and frothed and punished when the ASI has not delivered as expected. We have employed the ASI to dig fervently at Ayodhya and conveniently used their findings to prove that the site of the Babri Masjid was actually the birth place of Lord Ram. We have sent off the ASI on an endless search for the invisible River Saraswati. That is what we do with the ASI. It is a tool the Indian government of the day uses to dig into our sentiments. The ASI is, to put it rudely, a super spade. Can we not call a spade a spade and stop worrying about it?
In this particular case, a ‘sadhu’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao, Sant Shobhan Sarkar, had claimed that the British era king Rao Ram Baksh Singh had appeared in his dream and told him about 1,000 tonnes of gold lying buried under his fort on the banks of the Ganga, near the Shobhan temple, where the ‘sadhu’ was head priest. It seems that the king buried his treasure there to save it from the British, as he rebelled in the 1857 war of Independence, was defeated, captured and hanged. The British razed his fort to the ground. But, and this is the exciting part, they didn’t know of and therefore could not touch what lay beneath. So now, with the blessings of the government, the ASI is busy digging for gold in these 70 acres of sprawling ruins.
There may indeed be some hidden treasure there – it is a pretty large area that the sadhu has specified and all of it is under the ruins of a royal fort. Quite likely to have hidden treasure, one would think. Besides, the Geological Survey of India had been sent to do a recce and they too had suggested excavation. So there is nothing surprising in our using the ASI to follow the instructions of the 19th century king dreamt up by a 21st century seer.
What is surprising, however, is the response of the designated king of the party of believers, Narendra Modi. “The whole world is mocking us,” he shouted. “Somebody had a dream and the government started an excavation!” Why not bring back the black money in Swiss banks instead, he thundered. Excuse me? This from the nominated chief and prime ministerial candidate of the party that relies heavily on dreams and divine direction in every step in life? The party that believes that Lord Ram, like any commoner, was born at a particular time in a particular place in Uttar Pradesh. The leader of people which threw a fit when the ASI disagreed with it about the Ram Setu being built by Lord Ram.
In 2007, the ASI was asked its opinion about the Ram Setu, which the Hindutva brigade wanted protected, as an “archeological” treasure. The ASI had stated in the Supreme Court, paying “due deference” to the feelings of the petitioners, that being a science and technology department, it needed to examine the Ram Setu in a scientific manner, not “solely relying on the contents of a mythological text.” And although ancient mythological and literary texts are culturally important, they are not historical records that “incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters or the occurrence of the events depicted therein.” The ASI neither accepted nor denied Ram’s existence, reflecting a healthy academic hesitation. But it did say that the bridge was not man-made, but was a natural formation.
Immediately, there were hysterical accusations of blasphemy by Naredra Modi’s party. There was no fear of “the whole world mocking us”. They foamed at the mouth till the government balked, the culture minister (to whom the ASI reports) almost lost his job, two ASI officials were suspended and the ASI was forced to change its view by presenting another affidavit in the Supreme Court. Meanwhile the law minister declared that of course Ram was a historical figure.
And it was the ASI that provided archaeological evidence at Ayodhya that was doubted by many historians but was used in court to establish that the site of the Babri Masjid was exactly where Lord Ram, the historical figure, was born. Modi, designated king of the party that forces the fear of blasphemy to dictate scientific truths in the highest court of the land; the party that creates a surreal atmosphere where courts of law need to declare the historicity of gods. Was the whole world not mocking us then?
But such logical subtleties were not necessary for Modi to change his tune. He did so as soon as Swami Shobhan Sarkar sent out an open letter expressing some interest in the BJP’s relationship with black money. “So much money is being spent by the BJP on your branding and on portraying you as the next PM…” he wondered, “where is all this money coming from? Is it white or black?” He went on to ask why, if the BJP felt so strongly about it, had they not brought back to India the black money in Swiss Banks when the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) was in power. In a flash Modi was praising the ‘swami’ and saluting his austerity and renunciation, mentioning how lakhs of devotees have had deep faith in him for many years.
Are you surprised? No? Then why are you surprised that the ASI was asked to dig for gold based on a ‘swami’s’ dream?
Antara Dev Sen is Editor, *The Little Magazine*.
Email: sen@littlemag.com
Antara Dev Sen
