The quiet town of Ayodhya is really cold in winter, but this year it was different. Heartfelt warmth, capable of almost outsmarting mother’s love, intervened in unimaginable volumes to dramatically change the mood and the feel of the air. It came in the form of human beings, whose number ran into tens of thousands.

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AN ACT OF HISTORIC WISH-FULFILMENT

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They were there as the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, inaugurated the 50-metre high $240-million Ram Temple. Modi, in flowing golden-coloured traditional dress, unveiled the black stone idol of the deity Ram in the heart of the temple.

“The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India,” Modi said on Monday ahead of the “auspicious” opening, as he prayed at the feet of the human-sized statue, garlanded in flowers and draped in jewels.

Outside, tens of thousands of chanting and dancing devotees waving flags, honking horns and beating drums, packed the streets of the northern town of Ayodhya in the province of Uttar Pradesh as military helicopters showered flower petals from the sky.

Among the attendees were tycoons, cricketers and top Bollywood stars.

A few members of Ayodhya’s Muslim community were seen joining the jubilant street party.

Pledges win polls, performance wins power. The BJP leader had promised the temple. He kept his word. The voters will keep theirs. It is no doubt an act of historic wish-fulfilment and an irreversible stride of triumph for believers.

Well, we have been discussing the temple issue for more than 30 years. Millions of words have been spoken, millions have been written, tens of thousands of rallies have been staged. Unfortunately thousands of them turned fatal for thousands.  

Therefore, one hopes the issue is finally settled. Hindus and Muslims should be able to walk through Ayodhya in peace and see no politics in a priest’s rituals and in an imam’s call to prayer.