The consecration of Lord Ram’s idol in the under-construction Ayodhya Temple was a landmark incident in the course of Indian history. It consolidated significant changes in Indian polity, society, Constitutional spirit, among other things. It significantly changed the Hindu-Muslim equation in the perspective of a wider populace. Riding on the force of political majority, the assertive segments of Hindu society have realised that there need not be any guilt in imposing the will of Hindu majority over minorities in religious-cultural affairs. An adamant political dispensation is here to back their fantasies with full force. A segment among minorities, particularly Muslims, has been forced to find reason in ceding the space to the majority. While politically assertive Muslims will continue to fight for their religious rights, a general feeling of submission, partly fostered by the perception of different wings and agencies of the government aligning with the will of the political executive, is evident. The growing alienation of certain groups of citizens can potentially weaken the nation in the medium and long term.
The growing calls and pleas for establishing Hindu worship places at Shahi Idgah in Mathura and Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi should be seen in this light. The pleas and calls are further endorsed by the political dispensations of the day. Referring to the Epic Mahabharata wherein Lord Krishna urged Duryodhana to give five villages to Pandavas, the Uttar Pradesh CM asserted that “we are asking for our three holy places — Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura — lands of God’s incarnation.”
While religious scriptures deserve a high degree of reverence because they are associated with devotion of people, they cannot serve as an ultimate tool for contemporary governance. Furthermore, a head of the government bound by secular obligations should refrain from using phrases like “we are asking” for so and so religious structures. It is another matter that the benchmark for breach of secularism was pushed a notch higher when the entire State machinery devoted itself in the consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Sadly, in the course of portraying the INC to be a ‘secular’ party, the ruling BJP has erroneously made “secularism” look like an option for it, while it is not; it is a Constitutional obligation highlighted as a key element in the Preamble of Indian Constitution.
Apart from undermining the secular spirit of the Constitution, the calls for establishment of Hindu religious sites at the Mosque premises also contradict the law of the land. As a matter of fact, such calls and pleas go against the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. It was enacted to maintain the religious character of places of worship as it was on August 15, 1947. The Act prohibits the conversion of any place of worship from one religious denomination to another and freezes the status of all places of worship as it existed on the specified date. The Ram Temple in Ayodhya was considered to be an exception to it. But now, evidently, the UP administration appears to be pressing for a more extensive bargain covering other sites. Unfortunately, this bargain finds validation from several court rulings and ASI’s findings in favour of the Hindu appellants. Historically, the lack of Hindu-Muslim unity had cost the nation gravely on numerous instances. Is the clock being made to tick in the wrong direction?