The petition challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict that was pending from last 7 years is up for hearing today in the SC headed by chief justice JS Khehar, Justices Deepak Misra, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer. The Ramjanmabhoomi – Babri Masjid dispute might have captured the public attention after the 1992 demolition but the issue has been simmering from a very long time ever since Babur demolished the temple and built a masjid. In 1853 a communal violence broke out during the reign of Nawab Wajid Ali in Awadh when a few Hindus expressed that the masjid was built upon demolition of the temple and hence be restored to its original self. Ever since then the issue has become a political potboiler propping up just before elections or so it seemed until now.
But the latest development on Aug 8th where the Central Shia Wakf Board filed an affidavit before the Apex court stating that a Mosque can be built in a Muslim dominated area at a distance from the birth place of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, comes not just as a refreshingly welcome gesture that was long overdue but also as a significant move that talks much about the effective arbitration abilities deployed by the petitioners and the political bigwigs involved here!
The Valmiki Ramayana has 115 chapters dedicated to Ayodhya Kanda that talks about Lord Rama’s birth and growing up years to his crowning in Ayodhya. The holy epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata have been serially and prescriptively depicted as mythology and craftily propagated as a fictional past when in reality it is our glorious history.
If one looks carefully every place in India has a historical past that can be related with our epics. Be it Kurukshetra or Ayodhya or Dwaraka or Kishkinda, all these places that have a mention in our epics still exist. The Archeological Survey of India in 2003 came up with the evidence of existence of a Hindu temple under the Babri masjid but in spite of factual, scriptural and archeological evidence, anybody who raised the matter was sacrificed at the altar of communalism to uphold the flags of minority appeasing divisive agenda flying high. If Babur’s invasion is made out as glorious history based on some leftist historians and European favoring narratives how can an ancient history upon which the majority community bases its spiritual and religious belief even today not be our invaluable heritage? If it is not then it is a sham of secularism! It is a shame that even after Independence and in spite of knowing the brutal history of invasions the Hindus are denied their basic rights of religious freedom to worship in their sacred places with honor.
Be it – the Kashi Vishwanath temple or Mathura or Ayodhya the forced infringement and religious hegemony is out in the open for all to see where Mosques have blatantly impinged into temples as if to terrorize temple goers reminding them of the past brutality. Aurungzeb certainly did not demolish temples to establish religious camaraderie but the irony is that the silenced and calm Hindu majority has been branded as communal oppressors! Such mockery of our temples and our freedom to religious rights is viewed and ecstatically defined as inclusive living in brotherly harmony when the fact is that the brother has been unwilling to budge away his brazenly suffocating arm around your neck.
And it is precisely this thrusting arm that has gained dominance under the garb of secularism that the stalwarts of BJP have been fighting to contain. True secularism is established when all are equal under law where one sect does not bully the other with consistent constitutional and unconstitutional backing.
But behind every action, every narrative that dominates the society is the reigning political will of the leaders who make or break or build a flourishing civilization. And today’s verdict is anticipated to be a building one! What makes the case more interesting is the fact that a matter that was being long painted as communally sensitive from decades together is now beheld with a new insight to bring to effect real secularism in the background of archeological facts and history. So it is quite evident that the current political will and ecosystem is brewing an inclusive society and heading towards a win-win situation where no one is antagonized and let down at the hands of divisive forces who love to keep the divisive narrative alive for ever.
The Wakf is an inalienable charitable endowment as per Islamic Law. That a separate Islamic Law is permitted and thriving in dominance in our secular democracy hijacking the Majority demands should put to rest the restlessness of honorable bigots like Hamid Ansari who feel unsafe even while millions of Hindus force themselves to plug cotton into their ears during their blaring prayers. The Wakf Boards are decorated with the authority to decide the permanent dedication of a movable or immovable property to any religious or charitable purpose as per Muslim Law. While Hindu temples do not have any such privilege of not being under the Government controls where they form their own boards and take control or donate lands for charity without Government interference, our secular democracy does make such provisions available to the minorities that makes the Central Shia Wakf Board’s claims valuable in the court of law today.
The Sunnis claim that this decision by the Shia body cannot be upheld for all Muslims, does not merit a stand in the court of law as the property belongs to the Shia Board, further their arguments that this is a divide inducing decision by Shias is invalid and puny as it is because of this unbending attitude of the radical Islamists that the matter has been kept sensitively alive from the last century. Furthermore, when Islam does not believe in symbolisms and idolatry how does a particular place of worship become more important than the prayer itself?
As per the 2011 Shasvath Committee report nationwide Wakf properties constitute a land bank of 1.2lakh crores and could have generated annual returns of 12000crores but yields only 163 crores, while majority of temples are under Government control that are indirectly contributing to the welfare of Madrassas and Haj pilgrimage and the many minority upliftment schemes devised by successive governments.
Invaders may come and go but history much like our beliefs will remain intact as long as there are people who dare to speak the truth. And truth cannot be sabotaged under political correctness! As a matter of fact the secular theory of political correctness itself is a big farce pushed on our nose much like the emperor’s new clothes story.
But the larger question is whether Ayodhya the invincible or unconquerable land of Rama will remain a refugee at the legal hands becoming mere trumpet points of an election manifestoes or will it really break the shackles of layers of overt secularism is to be waited and watched!