Historicizing Myth and Mythologizing History 25 27. Ibid., pp. 86-8. 28. The VHP gives its own account of the talks in History Versus Casuistry: Evidence of the Ramajanmabhoomi Mandir Presented by the Vishva Hindu Parishad to the Government of India in December-January 1990-91. New Delhi: Voice of India, 1991. pp. i-iv. For the VHP's evidence, see pp. 1-75. A member of the VHP team engaged in the dialogue with the AIBMAC, Harsh Narain, has come up with more 'evidence* from Muslim historical sources for the alleged 'existence and desecration* of the Ramjanmabhumi temple and its replacement with the Babri mosque. See Harsh Narain, The Ayodhya Temple-Mosque Dispute: Focus on Muslim Sources. Delhi: Penman Publishers, 1993. 29. N. Ram, "Hindutva's Challenge," Seminar 402 (February 1993). p. 25. 30. Chanchreek and Prasad, 1993, p. 109. 31. Ibid., p. 250. For the official stand of the BJP, see BJP's White Paper on Ayodhya and the Rama Temple Movement. New Delhi: BJP, 1993. 32. Christophe Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. pp. 544-46. 33. Dina Nath Mishra, RSS: Myth and Reality. New Delhi: Vikas, 1980. p. 207. 34. Quoted in T. C. A. Raghavan, "Origins and Development of Hindu Mahasabha Ideology: The Call of V D Savarkar and Bhai Parmanand/' Economic and Political Weekly 18/15 (April 9, 1983), p. 597. 35. Iqbal Ansari, "Hindu-Muslim Conflict in India: Causes and Remedies," in Ansari, The Muslim Situation in India. New Delhi: Sterling, 1989. p. 173. 36. Philip Lutgendorf, The Life of a Text: Performing the Ramcaritmanas ofTulsidas. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1991. pp. 23, 18, 33, 34. 37. Ibid., p. 413. 38. Quoted in Tapan Basu, et. al., Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags: A Critique of the Hindu Right. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1993. p. 9. 39. See T. L. Vaswani, Sri Rama: The Beloved of Aryavarta. Poona, India: Gita Publishing House, n.d, pp. 5, 7. 40. Sita Ram Goel, "Rama—Man, or God?" Organiser, October 14, 1963. pp. 12, 14. 41. See G. W. Trompf, "Macrohistory and Acculturation: Between Myth and History in Modern Melanesian Adjustments and Ancient Gnosticism/' Comparative Studies in Society and History 31/4 (October 1989). p. 625. 42. K. L. Kamal, Party Politics in an Indian State: A Study of the Main Political Parties in Rajasthan. Delhi: S. Chand 6c Co., n.d. pp. 75-7. 43. Ibid. 44. Horst Hartmann, Political Parties in India. Meerut: Meenakshi Prakashan, 1982. p. 112. 45. "Rama Rajya Parishad," The Times of India Directory and Yearbook 1954-55. London: Bennett, Coleman &: Co, 1955. p. 1122. 46. Kamal, n.d., p. 159. 47. Ibid., p. 210. 48. Surindar Suri, 1962 Elections: A Political Analysis. New Delhi: Sudha Publications, 1962. p. 142. 49. Hartmann, 1982, p. 345. 50. BJP's White Paper on Ayodhya and the Rama Temple Movement. New Delhi: Bharatiya Jariata Party, 1993. p. 8. 51. The asterisk mark on Ram explains: "To liberate all forms of life from fear, is my vow' To Indians, Ram is an ideal, a symbol of integrity, justice and compassion." See the advertisement in India Today, May 15, 1991, p. 48-9. 52. Madhu Jain and M. Rahman, "Flowery Fantasies," India Today, May 15, 1991. p. 34. 53. BJP's White Paper on Ayodhyaandthe Rama Temple Movement, 1993. p. 7. 54. Ibid., p. 15. 55. Ibid. 56. Ibid. 57. Inderjit Badhwar and Pankaj Pachauri, "Communalism: Dangerous Dimensions," In-