For nearly five centuries, the struggle for Ram Janmabhoomi has represented a struggle against barbarity, that waves of colonial invaders brought to the Indian subcontinent over the past millennia. The ancient Temple that was destroyed in Ayodhya by the armies of Babur in 1526 CE, became a cause, a rai·son d’être for the native population of the Indian subcontinent. Generation after generation, they refused to give up their struggle to reclaim it back. In the 17th century, Guru Gobind Singh (10th Sikh Guru and the founder of the Khalsa Panth) made multiple attempts to reclaim the site. The Marathas and then their successors, the Holkars, followed by a confederation of Hindu ascetics under the aegis of Nirmohi Akhara. tried to reclaim Ram Janmabhoomi in the 18th century. It is a cause that was served by the sacrifice of thousands of Hindus, many of whom gave up their lives as they faced bullets while doing Karseva in 1990. This cause memorializes the women and children on Sabarmati Express, who were burnt alive in the tragic Godhra train massacre of 2002.
That is why, for Hindus around the world, the ‘Ram Janmabhoomi movement’ is a symbol of their centuries old struggle against colonialism and the brutality and tragedy that came with it. That is also why, to many Hindu Americans, their support for the movement is akin to the support that conscientious Americans gave to the Civil Rights movements, or to the movements of Native tribes to reclaim back their sacred grounds.
Today, after seventy years of legal wrestling in the judiciaries of independent India, we have arrived at the final leg of our mission to reclaim Ram Janmabhoomi. The Supreme Court of India today, approved the return of the site to the Hindu community.
The World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) seeks your partnership and support, as we embark on the next phase of this journey. We hope that it will be one, in which we can bring synergy to our efforts to bring about a positive experience, for future generations of Hindus from all over the world.
