Hindus and Muslims to build ‘school of self-actualization’ at Ayodhya site

In a landmark turn of events that will very well amaze people across the world who have been following the Ayodhya verdict, Hindu and Muslim parties have come to a mutual understanding and decided to not build either a temple or a masjid at the disputed site.

Although Allahabad High Court proportionally divided the land, all the three parties involved have decided to build a ‘school of self-actualization’ at the site and, for the first time, issued a joint statement that has taken the world community unawares.

Here’s a joint statement by the three parties:

‘Both the religions have certain things in common. They tell us to think big, to always do something for the betterment of mankind, and to never ignore the truth. Nowhere in any of our religious texts (both Hindu and Islamic) is it written that we may fight over a piece of land that we “believe” belongs to god.

‘It is time to look ahead and tell the world that, indeed, our country stands for unity in diversity. We believe in love and peace, and “humanism” is our biggest asset. The world will be amazed to hear that Hindus and Muslims together will build a first-of-its kind “school of music and fine arts” at the demolished Babri Masjid site, or the so-called ram janambhumi.

‘The school will not preach anything religious – no Quran, Ramayana, or Gita will be in the premises. It will solely focus on bringing out and nurturing the innate talents of individuals. Music and fine arts – which have been uniting individuals across religions, cultures and countries from time immemorial – will be the focus of learning and teaching at the school.

‘The school will provide an atmosphere where an individual can research, rehearse, think, indulge and reach the stage of self-actualization, so that whatever he creates thereon is the best. The purpose of the school is to widen the narrowness of mindsets and break the barriers that religions probably create.

‘Gone are the days when religious learnings shaped individual personalities. The world is not what it was 500 years ago. The pace of the change is such that it (the world) is not even the same as it was five years ago. Then, why should we keep sitting on ancient ideas and grudges?

‘We regret fighting over a small piece of land that engaged almost the entire state machinery, including the civil and judicial arms, for quite a long time. The time, the energy, and the resources that have gone into the issue would have been better utilized had we been channelizing them towards larger issues like eradicating poverty and hunger in the country. Neither Lord Ram nor the Prophet need a home, but the shelterless family does. Unfortunately, we have too many of them in the country.

‘The realization has come late, but thankfully it has come. It now feels weird that while the world was preparing craft to land on Mars, we were entangled in the centuries-old green-and-saffron battles.

‘We regret the violence, the upsetting of harmony, the hurt sentiments… and the damage done to the nation and to mankind.

‘Let us now look ahead. Let us now look at the school of self-actualization. And let us hope that the generations to come take inspiration from this school and are confident enough to convert all the temples and masjids of the world into schools of self-actualization.’

NOTE: The text written above is entirely fictitious and a product of this writer’s imagination. This is not a true story and was never carried by any newspaper or online publication.