Why is Lord Ram the most important deity for Hindus? Why does anti – Hindu cabal hate Lord Ram?

These were some of the questions that emerged when I saw the response to two pieces of news. The first was that of UP governor’s advice to use the full name of BR Ambedkar i.e Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. The second was the opposition for use of CSR funds for a Ram statue in Ayodhya. I shall delve into the questions that arose in my mind in some detail.

Why is Lord Ram important for Hinduism?

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Ram took centre stage in Hindu discourse because he represents the ethos of Hindu civilisation. Ram represents the values of self-sacrifice, obedience for parents, respect for elders, courage and valour in times of need. He is the ideal son, ideal husband and ideal brother. These are the values that held in high esteem by every Hindu family. The Ramayana and the character of Ram serve as vehicles for the transmission of these values.

Lord Ram is a symbol of cultural unity of India

Lord Ram is a pan Indian deity where every major language in both South India and North India have a considerable amount of literature and music associated with him. A quick glance at various versions of Ramayana will reinforce this point

Sri Rama Vijaya by Sankaradeva in Assamese (15th century)

Torave Ramayana by Narahari in Kannada ( 16th century)

Giridhardas Ramayana in Gujarati (19th century)

Krittivasi Ramayana by Krittibas Ojha in Bengali (15th century)

Kambaramayana by Kambar in Tamil (12th century)

Sri Rangantha Ramayanam by Gona Budha Reddy in Telugu (14th century)

Ramacharitamanas by Tulsidas in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi (16th century)

Ram is the mascot of Hinduism and Hindu civilisation because he unites people from all languages and geographies. He unites people of all castes and creeds because they respect the values that Ram stood for in his life. Of course, the same can be said for Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu to some extent. The character of Ram unifies India as there are stories associated along the trail to Sri Lanka where he fought Ravan to rescue Sita. The slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is not just a slogan but an affirmation of the cultural unity of India.

Lessons for politicians from Ramayana

Ram not only serves as an ideal for families but also for politicians and administrators. Politicians and societies also draw lessons from Ramayana. Ram’s kingdom had reached the ideal of ‘Ram-Rajya’ a phrase that Mahatma Gandhi latched on to in his writings.

Whether Rama of my imagination ever lived or not on this earth, the ancient ideal of Ramarajya is undoubtedly one of true democracy in which the meanest citizen could be sure of swift justice without an elaborate and costly procedure. Even the dog is described by the poet to have received justice under Ramarajya. – Mahatma Gandhi

The concept of Ram – Rajya is diametrically opposite to the British idea of ‘divide and rule’ which is being practised by Congress since independence. In addition to social divisions like religion, caste and sect Congress has now added the north-south divide as well into its box of tools.

Why does anti – Hindu cabal hate Lord Ram?

Secular Liberal Hindu haters can’t digest Ram’s ability to unite Hindus. They hate the fact that the deity is able to unite all castes, linguistic groups, geographies through the story of Ramayana. Once this unity is broken, their project of conversions, divide and rule policy will move smoothly. Thus, it is extremely important for the secular liberal cabal to defame and erase the memory of Lord Ram. They do this in many ways.

Strategy No 1 : Remove structures related to Ram and question his existence

They attack the veracity of Ramayana and the desire to break Ram Sethu and bury evidence related to Ram Temple in Ayodhya were two attempts to remove the faith of Indians in Lord Ram. Fortunately, they did not succeed. If you can make people forget about Ram, you can very well make them forget about their Hindu identity.

Strategy No 2: Portray Ram (and by extension Hinduism) as anti -Women

Self-proclaimed ‘feminists’ use Lord Ram to paint Hinduism as an anti-Woman religion. They pick up specific instances from mythology to argue about their theory. The concept of purity of Sita portrayed in Ramayana irks this section of the cabal.

Sita’s agni pariksha (trial by fire) after she is rescued is one of the punching bags of so-called ‘feminists’. It is illogical to argue in favour of ‘feminism’ using a story that has elements of fantasy in it. Of course, there is no chance of anyone coming out of a pyre alive if he/she enters it.

The fact that he banished his wife to the forest based on a rogue comment by a citizen is also a key argument against Ram by self-proclaimed feminists. It is quite possible that Lord Ram placed his responsibility as a king above that of a husband. That might have led to Sita’s return to the forest. Probably he wanted to shield Sita from further criticism by vile people in his kingdom. Using this example to paint Hinduism as anti-Women is nothing but juvenile propaganda.

Hindus have been in the forefront of promoting gender equality in India. The Hindu code and anti Dowry acts are some examples. Participation of Hindu women in all fields has also been increasing over the years. It must be noted that secular liberals who criticise ‘patriarchy’ in Ramayana and ‘anti-women’ nature of Hinduism are the ones who are investing enormous energies in retaining practices like triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala among Muslims.

The ‘feminist’ campaigns which are sympathetic to polyamory and live-in-relationships campaigns are antithetical to the values of monogamy and husband-wife relationship portrayed in Ramayana. Detachment from Lord Ram is essential for these ‘progressive’ activists to break the institution of family in India.

Lord Ram is the worst enemy of liberals

The secular liberal cabal’s worst enemy is not Yogi or Modi, for they are all mortals. Lord Ram is the real enemy because he is the mascot of Hinduism and he is immortal in the hearts of all Hindus. Forgetting Ram would verily change the nature of society and country that we are today. That is the biggest threat for Hindus. Therefore, we must invest all our energies in keeping alive the memory and ideals of Lord Shri Ram.