Just in:
Hullabaloo About Electoral Bonds May End Up As A Whimper Pre And Post Poll // Sharpening the Focus: Sharjah Health Department Refines Evaluation Criteria for “Healthy Schools Programme” // AIA Hong Kong Wins More Than 20 Accolades at MPF Ratings MPF Awards, BENCHMARK MPF of The Year Awards and Bloomberg Businessweek Top Fund Awards // Party Nominees Refusing To Contest: Major Perception Threat For BJP // Konica Minolta is named ASEAN 2023 Market Leader in Colour Light and Mid Digital Production Printers // Study: Stainless steel circular economy significantly reduces the risk of climate change in Thailand // Experts come together to support updating the city’s nature conservation masterplan // 2024 Lok Sabha Election Is A Historic Battle Against The Advent Of Fascism In India // Andertoons by Mark Anderson for Thu, 28 Mar 2024 // Hope for Respite as UAE Endorses UN Plea for Gaza Truce // Near Miss at Kolkata Airport: IndiGo Plane Makes Contact with Stationary Air India Express // Ajman Celebrates Conclusion of Ramadan Activities with Grand Ceremony // AI Boost for Galaxy Devices: Samsung Expands One UI 6.1 Update // Universal Language for Healthcare: General Authority Embraces Global Coding System // Employer Obligations Tighten: 30-Day Deadline for Emirati Employee Registration with GPSSA // Sunshine’s Debut Features Leave Tech World Scratching Its Head // Lisboeta Macau’s world first LINE FRIENDS PRESENTS CASA DE AMIGO and BROWN & FRIENDS CAFE & BISTRO has officially opened // HSBC Streamlines Gold Investment for Hong Kong Residents with Tokenized Product // In Lok Sabha Polls In Punjab, AAP Is Advantageously Placed As Against Its Three Rivals // Renewables Surge Sets Record, But Global Equity Lags //
HomeIndia PoliticsGyanvapi Mosque Dispute Seems Poised To Be A Babri Masjid Redux

Gyanvapi Mosque Dispute Seems Poised To Be A Babri Masjid Redux

By Harihar Swarup

After three decades of relative calm post the Babri Masjid demolition, events in the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute have taken a swift turn. The latest development is the apparent ‘manifestation’ of a ‘shivling’ during a court-mandated survey, following which the local Varanasi court has ordered for that portion of the mosque to be sealed.

The Supreme Court has removed the restrictions on offering Namaz imposed by Varanasi Civil Court, while protecting the spot where the plaintiff claimed a “shivlinga” was found. Three years before, in the Babri Masjid case, the Supreme Court had delivered an ambiguous judgment, trying to balance competing claims of faith, history and law. While it acknowledged that Muslims were wrongfully deprived of their 450-year-old mosque, and condemned its destruction as a ‘serious violation of law’, it concluded that Hindus have a ‘better’ possessory claim of the title of the land. Among other arguments, SC took into account the faith of Hindus in the birth place of Lord Rama and need to ensure ‘peace and tranquillity”.

ADVERTISEMENT

Even though the SC judgment in the Babri Masjid dispute left many Muslims disappointed, there was little overt protest. One reason was that SC treated Babri Masjid dispute as a special case, while making it absolutely clear that the Indian state protects all existing Muslim places of worship. It categorically rebuffed the notion that a court of law in a secular democracy could be instrument for correcting perceived “historical wrongs” against Hindu temples. Further, it reaffirmed the validity of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, that prohibits the religious character of a place of worship to be changed. The only exhibition contained in this was the Babri Masjid.

Thus, case against tinkering with the Gyanvapi Mosque is clear. But, of course, the Gyanvapi dispute, like Babri Masjid dispute, is essentially not about law, nor even history, but about the need of contemporary politics.

The motor fuel of Hindutva is imagined grievance. As BJP has taken office in most of the Hindi belt, the wellspring of present day Hindu grievances has been substantially drained. The charge of Muslim appeasement does not carry the same resonance as the political power of Muslims. It has declined precipitously. Laws on subjects such as cow slaughter and ‘love jehad’ have ensured that sentiments of Hindus are already seen to command political primacy.

In this respect, BJP is even more dependent on history to provide an extensive to provide and inexhaustible reservoir of Hindu grievances. The mosque in Varanasi and Mathura, among other places, are sought to be presented as disputed areas.

BJP’S constrains as a governing party also explains its hesitancy to raise the political stakes by repealing the places of Worship Act. After all the BJP had opposed the passing of the Act and hasn’t given up its ideological claims on correcting ‘historical wrongs’. Nothing prevents Parliament from repealing the Act, except, perhaps, BJP’s own interested, dread at the hard to manage consequences of opening the Pandora’s Box.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thus, RSS and BJP are content to lie in the shadows, encouraging Hindutva proxies to gradually soldier on with the next frontier of historical claims — Varanasi, Mathura and beyond. Petitioners in the current iteration of the Gyanvapi dispute are linked to the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh. The ultimate goal of this organization, according to its President Jitender Vishen, is establishment of ‘Hindu Rashtra’, much like the goal of RSS. But these Hindutava surrogates, coughed as devotees, help the political establishment to maintain a plausible distance.

Yet some official support for Hindu petitioners was amply clear from the UP deputy CM K P Maurya’s exulting tweets in the wake of ‘discovery’ of the shivling. One may recall that Maurya had also raked up the issue of Varanasi and Mathura temples during the UP election campaign.

It is a fraught task, even in western countries, to disentangle politics from faith and history. But it is the mark of advanced nations that justice is not beholden to majoritarian sentiments or historic grievances. As the Supreme Court expressly noted in the Babri Masjid judgment: “For any person who seeks solace or recourse against action of any number of ancient rulers, the law is not the answer.” (IPA Service)

The post Gyanvapi Mosque Dispute Seems Poised To Be A Babri Masjid Redux first appeared on IPA Newspack.

IPA News

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT
Just in:
2024 Lok Sabha Election Is A Historic Battle Against The Advent Of Fascism In India // AIA Hong Kong Wins More Than 20 Accolades at MPF Ratings MPF Awards, BENCHMARK MPF of The Year Awards and Bloomberg Businessweek Top Fund Awards // Superland Announced Annual Results for 2023, 2023 Net Profit Increased approximately 39.5% to approximately HK$22.2 million as Compared to the 2022 Adjusted One // Hope for Respite as UAE Endorses UN Plea for Gaza Truce // Meta Earth Official Website Launch: The Pioneer Explorer in the Modular Public Blockchain Domain // Infineon and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering jointly develop ship electrification technology // Emirates Post Speeds Up Deliveries for GCC with Special Day // The World’s First & Wettest Party: “S2O Hong Kong Songkran Music Festival” proudly returns Get an immersive water and music experience on 8-9 June during Dragon Boat Festival long weekend at Central Harbourfront Event Space! // Employer Obligations Tighten: 30-Day Deadline for Emirati Employee Registration with GPSSA // Andertoons by Mark Anderson for Thu, 28 Mar 2024 // Experience Ultimate Shopping Freedom at 4.4 Shopee Spree: Don’t Worry, Shop Shopee! // Arvind Kejriwal Was Used By BJP In 2011 Movement To Take On The Congress // In Lok Sabha Polls In Punjab, AAP Is Advantageously Placed As Against Its Three Rivals // Konica Minolta is named ASEAN 2023 Market Leader in Colour Light and Mid Digital Production Printers // Universal Language for Healthcare: General Authority Embraces Global Coding System // Renewables Surge Sets Record, But Global Equity Lags // Sunshine’s Debut Features Leave Tech World Scratching Its Head // Study: Stainless steel circular economy significantly reduces the risk of climate change in Thailand // Court Sides with Coinbase on Wallet Service, But Staking Program Remains in Limbo // Ajman Celebrates Conclusion of Ramadan Activities with Grand Ceremony //