Ram ke Naam
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''Ram ke Naam'' (English: ''In the Name of God'') is a 1992 documentary by Indian filmmaker Anand Patwardhan. The film explores the campaign waged by the right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation
Vishva Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...
to build a Ram temple at the site of the
Babri Masjid Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...
in
Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...
, as well as the
communal violence Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, the violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups, and victims are chosen based upon group membership. The term includes conflicts, riots ...
that it triggered. A couple of months after ''Ram ke Naam'' was released, activists of the VHP and other Hindu nationalist groups demolished the Babri Masjid in 1992, provoking further violence. The film earned Patwardhan a wide recognition, and received several national and international awards.


Background

In 1526 following the
Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...
invasion of the Indian subcontinent, Mir Baqi, a general of the emperor
Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
, built a mosque at Ayodhya which he named after Babur. Hindus believe that Ayodhya is the birthplace of the deity
Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
. Local traditions hold that a temple to Rama stood at the site and was demolished by Baqi. The site was used for religious purposes by people of both beliefs until 1949. In that year, idols of Rama were surreptitiously placed inside the mosque. An uproar followed, and multiple civil suits were filed laying claim to the site. The site was declared to be in dispute, and the gates to the mosque were locked. In the 1980s, the
Vishva Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...
(VHP), a Hindu nationalist organisation, began a campaign to build a temple dedicated to Rama at the site, with the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) backing the movement politically. In September 1990, the BJP leader L. K. Advani began a "
rath yatra Ratha Yatra (), or Chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. The term particularly refers to the annual Ratha Yatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states, particularly the Odia festival that involve a ...
," or chariot journey, to the city of Ayodhya in support of the movement. The journey triggered communal riots in several cities, leading to Advani's arrest by the government of Bihar. A large number of volunteers nonetheless reached Ayodhya, and attacked the mosque. This resulted in a pitched battle with government's paramilitary forces that ended with the death of several VHP volunteers.


Synopsis

''Ram ke Naam'' explores the VHP's campaign to demolish the Babri Masjid and build a temple to Rama in its place. The film begins with a clip of an organizer describing Advani's ''rath yatra'' in 1990. It then shows scenes from the ''yatra'', with young men dressed in saffron seen in Ayodhya, followed by a video prepared by the VHP. The video depicts an incident at the temple in 1949, when an idol of Rama "appeared" inside the mosque. In the VHP's retelling, Rama is shown descending from the sky and miraculously appearing in the mosque, watched by astonished spectators, followed by a member of the VHP telling the same story. The documentary then shifts to interviews with Muslim residents, who state that they do not have access to justice, and describe the destruction that occurred during communal riots in 1986. Patwardhan then interviews young male members of the VHP, who say that they will take Ayodhya by force if they need to. One of the men is unable to answer a question about historicity of Rama's date of birth. The film then shows Advani's ''yatra'' entering the state of
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, and several provocative speeches by politicians of the BJP. This is followed by an interview with a tax inspector, who was fired for objecting to irregularities in the tax returns of the VHP. Patwardhan interviews
Baba Lal Das Baba Lal Das was first ever Mahant (Chief Hindu Priest) of the idols of the deity Rama placed within the Babri Masjid complex in Ayodhya. He was appointed to his position by the Lucknow High Court in 1981. Lal Das was a fierce critic of Rashtr ...
, a Hindu priest of the idols within the mosque compound, who described the VHP's agitation as unnecessary, and an attempt to create religious tension. The film concludes with a clip of people at a BJP rally attempting to justify the assassination of
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
by
Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a Hindu nationalist from Maharashtra who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith prayer meeting in Birla ...
.


Reception and analysis

The film received a positive reception from critics, and also received several national and international awards. A review in the magazine ''
Manushi ''Manushi: A Journal about Women and Society'' is an Indian magazine devoted to feminism as well as to gender studies and activism. The magazine was founded in 1978 by Madhu Kishwar and Ruth Vanita Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activis ...
'' stated that the film was a reminder of "that rare commodity called truth," and went on to say that although the film might be considered to have flaws of a technical nature, it should be mandatory viewing for people who wished to understand the Ayodhya dispute. The VHP and its affiliates in the
Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...
reacted with hostility to the film, stating that it was "anti-Hindu." In 1993 volunteers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
prevented the documentary from being screened at a college in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
. In 2002, the VHP also prevented the movie from being screened at the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
. After a screening of the documentary at ILS Law College on 27 December 2014 was cancelled due to threats from right wing organisations, Patwardhan officially released the documentary on YouTube. In February 2019, YouTube put an age restriction on the documentary which now opens with a disclaimer saying it may be “inappropriate for some users” even though the film holds a U certificate (for unrestricted public exhibition) from the Central Board of Film Certification. In August 2019, a screening of the film at the
Hyderabad Central University The University of Hyderabad ( IAST: ''Hydarāvād visvavidyālayamu'') is a top ranking public central research university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Founded in 1974, this mostly residential campus has more than 5,000 students ...
was interrupted and the organisers detained by police. Patwardhan was already fairly well known thanks to his earlier films, such as '' Prisoners of Conscience'', which critiqued the
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
imposed by Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
in the mid 1970s. However, ''Ram ke Naam'' earned him a wide recognition for the first time.


Awards

*
Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
Best Documentary, India, 1992 *
National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...
, Best Investigative Documentary, India, 1992 * Ecumenical Prize, Nyon, Switzerland, 1993 * Documentary Prize, Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland, 1993 * Citizen’s Prize, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan, 1992


References

{{reflist, 30em


External links


Official website of Anand Patwardhan

''Ram ke Naam'' on You Tube
Indian documentary films Anand Patwardhan Ayodhya dispute Hindu nationalism