[Kashmir Times, 2 Oct, 2010 ]
Retrospective sanction of 1992 demolition on questionable grounds makes mockery
of secularism and rule of law in India
THE verdict of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on the Ayodhya dispute,
delivered on Thursday, will be remembered more for its extra-judicial impurities
than as a citable case of immaculate jurisprudence. Immediate impact of the
pronouncement without untoward fallout, amid hyped fears about its grave
consequences, is perhaps a more significant development than the judgement
itself. By and large every section of public, political and religious opinion
responded with commendable restraint which if sustained over the next few weeks
could be a really great achievement.
However, that is a million dollar question,
given the past record and known tendency of the extremist fringe to exploit
every possible ‘opportunity’ of this kind. The content, context and wisdom of
the puzzling judicial verdict lend itself to diverse and contradictory
interpretations. There has been no dearth of opinions from hailing it as an act
of ‘judicial courage’ to condemning it as a ‘panchayat raj decision’. To a
layman, both seem almost equally convincing. Indeed, the 10, 000 page judgement
written by the three judges of the high court is so full of confusing
conclusions that their individual interpretations become stretchable all too
easily. For instance, the court was asked to pronounce on the ownership of the
plot of land at Ayodhya. Instead of answering the simple question in clear cut
terms, as judicial verdict is supposed to do, the judgement in this case is
fraught with ominous implications. On the one hand it has ousted the claim of
the Sunni Waqf Board but on the other it upheld it by awarding one-third share
of the disputed property to the Board. Judicially, this position is
irreconcilable, as much as it defies logic.
Similarly, the judgement holds that
the birth place of Lord Ram is exactly under the central dome of the destroyed
3- dome structure (Babri Masjid) but relies on what is patently questionable
inconclusive finding of the Archaeological Survey of India. Yet it is this
dubious part of the judgement that tilts the balance of not only the ownership
dispute but the entire gamut of its political and ideological dimensions. The
judgement looks to be an odd mixture of facts, mythology and principles. Perhaps
the saving grace lies in that part of the judgement which by consensus of all
the three judges says that status quo will prevail at the disputed site for next
three months and that leave to appeal against the verdict is instantly granted
to litigants. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement rightly emphasised this
point while counselling patience and restraint. There is no doubt that the case
will land in the lap of the Supreme Court of India sooner than later. Obviously,
the judicial process is yet to be exhausted in the six decade old dispute. All
that can be said at this moment is that the last word has not been said in the
case, mercifully. The Allahabad high court judgement has created a piquant
political situation for the central government. It was the Congress government,
of PV Narasimha Rao, in New Delhi when the Babri Masjid was demolished in
December 1992, in gross violation of rule of law, civilised behaviour and
political propriety.
The demolition marked the culmination of
politically-motivated communal frenzy. Now when that act has virtually been
‘santified’ by the Allahabad court verdict there is again a Congress government
at the centre. Deeper analysis of the judgement delivered on Thursday brings out
a highly disturbing feature of Indian polity. It sanctifies lawlessness
propelled by communal frenzy. Nobody can deny that the ideological packaging of
LK Advani’s Rath Yatra in the early 1990s that culminated in wanton destruction
of over 400 year old Babri Masjid was antisecular, anti-constitutional and it
mocked at rule of law. The court verdict has virtually justified the 1992
demolition by declaring, on questionable findings, that the birth place of Lord
Ram was indeed where the Hindu’s believed it to be and that the Babri Masjid had
been built over the site of a demolished temple. The BJP whose stalwarts are
facing criminal charges in the demolition case had every reason to exude
satisfaction beyond their expectation. Given the propensities of the Sangh
Parivar, it is only a question of time when they launch a more determined
offensive to ‘to recover’ 33, 000 sites of ‘demolished temples’ across the
country. Ex-post judicial approval of the demolition at Ayodhya in 1992 is a
boost to the campaign for ‘restoring’ temples identified by the Parivar.
The politico-ideological fallout of the Allahabad high court judgement is going
to
pose toughest challenge to the Congress party and its government. The minority
community’s faith and confidence in the ruling party’s will as well as
capability to defend secularism and rule of law is now in more serious doubt.
One Congress government connived in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and
another one failed to prevent the dastardly act from being sanctified with
judicial approval. Muslim minority has reason to be more fearful after the
verdict, notwithstanding restrained initial impact of the judgement.
Triumphalism lies at the root of the Saffron ideology. And Muslims have always
been at its receiving end.
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