Row over Salman Khurshid’s book on Ayodhya Ram temple: 5 key takeaways

Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to go to the polls next year and politics in the name of Lord Ram and Ayodhya has intensified. BJP has been doing politics of the name of Ram for three decades, but the parties which earlier opposed Ram and considered him to be a fictional character are now looking for a political shade in the shelter of Ram. In this effort, a book has been written about Ayodhya Ram temple just before the UP elections.

Senior Congress leader and Supreme Court lawyer Salman Khurshid has written a book about the Supreme Court’s decision on Ayodhya. In the book ‘Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in our times’, Khurshid says that he wants to explain the reason and purpose of the decision to the country, but looking at the book, it seems that the Congress party wants to sweep its defeat in the Ayodhya matter under the carpet.

Now, a question that emerges is why did Khurshid take two years to understand and write a book on the decision of the Supreme Court on the Ayodhya case. Why has that book been completed on the occasion of an election? Khurshid does not tell the reason for this. but he does look for a share in the Ram temple. 

It may be recalled that the Congress party had started trying to demand its political stake only just after the top court’s decision. When Bhoomi Pujan was being conducted in Ayodhya in August 2020, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted a letter on Twitter showing her happiness and participation in the construction of the temple.

To better understand the purpose of the book, here are five key takeaways from it.

1. In the book, Khurshid says that the Supreme Court’s decision on Ayodhya is absolutely right. This means that the Congress party was wrongly standing in favour of the claim of the mosque on the Janmabhoomi.

2. Khurshid writes that the Hindu side presented stronger evidence in favour of the claim in the court.

3. He says that a section of the Congress party is in favour of returning to Hindutva, essentially meaning that the party, which is considered a pro-Muslim party, is now trying to this image.

4. On page number 113, Khurshid writes that today’s political Hindutva is like a radical ideology like ISIS and Boko Haram. This means that Congress can move forward only on the path of soft Hindutva.

5. Salman Khurshid also writes that the temple of Ayodhya does not belong to anyone party. This means that now Congress is also looking for its share in the politics of Ram name.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched attacks over the book and on Thursday, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia targeted Salman Khurshid by holding a press conference. “This is a big conspiracy of Congress against Hindutva and their ideology is against Hindus. It is not only about the sentiments of Hindus, but also deeply hurts the soul of India. The Congress party is weaving a web of hatred against Hindus like a spider,” he said during a press conference. Along with this, he demanded Congress President Sonia Gandhi to take action against Salman Khurshid.

Meanwhile, a Delhi-based lawyer Vineet Jindal on Thursday filed a complaint with the police against Khurshid for the remarks in his book on Hindutva.

In his complaint, Jindal contended that the senior Congress leader and former law minister has compared Hindutva to radical jihadist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram in the book.