The Mandir-Masjid Flashpoint: A nation in a perpetual state of war

 

 

The Mandir-Masjid Flashpoint: A nation in a perpetual state of war 

The people of India were given to understand that the verdict of the constitutional five-judge bench- headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi- on November 9,2019, handing over the disputed Babri-Masjid site to Hindus for construction of Ram Temple, would be the last religious dispute in the Mandir Vs Masjid vortex between the Hindus and the Muslims, as the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act,  1991, supposed to have settled all disputes between  various communities relating to religious structures once and for all.

 

The 1991 Act prohibits conversion of religious places and maintains their religious character as existed on August 15,1947. Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion of a palace of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination. Section 4(1) states that the religious character of a place of worship “shall continue to be the same as it existed on August 15,1947”, and as per Section 4(2)” no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted.”   On May 12, 2022, a Varanasi civil court had entertained a suit filed by the Hindu women demanding access to a Hindu site-Maa Sringar Gauri- claimed to be located in the Gyanavapi Mosque, and ordered a videography of the mosque premises, thus opening a Pandora’s Box for similar claims elsewhere.

 

The Committee of Management, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which manages the Gyanavapi mosque, has challenged the maintenance of the suit in the Supreme Court.  The matter came up before the three-judge bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Surya Kant and P.S. Narasimha. Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Committee of Management, pleaded: “so far as existence of this particular property as a mosque is concerned for a period of 500 years and the religious character of that mosque, as on August 15,1947, is very apparently not in dispute. It is precisely that religious character that is sought to be protected. Otherwise, the Places of Worship Act and the object behind it will become a dead letter. Because there are a large number of places in India where you have had these sorts of multiple religions, a temple, a mosque, a Buddhist temple earlier, a different temple later, a Jain temple earlier, a Vaishnavite temple later. It is precisely this sort of controversy which the Act wanted to interdict and the object that it should not be allowed to fester.” He argued the suit in the Varanasi court is not maintainable and, therefore, be dismissed.

 

However, the Supreme Court didn’t find anything wrong in the Varanasi court entertaining the suit and ordering the survey of the premises of the mosque. The apex court, in its Order May 19,2022, directed the District Judge to hear the Gyanavapi mosque dispute, instead of the civil court judge.  It observed that the survey of a structure is to ascertain its religious nature, that is not prohibited under the 1991 Act.  Justice Chandrachud said: “there are various nuances of the Act which will also fall for consideration…ascertainment of the religious character of a palace is not barred by the Places of Worship Act.”  But the point missed here is the end purpose of the survey.  Justice Chandrachud was a member of the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya Judgment, while Justice Narasimha had appeared for a Hindu party pleading for the disputed site to be given for construction of Ram Temple. Justice Narasimha was appointed a Supreme Court Jude on August31,2021. Both Justices Chandrachud and Narasimha are in line to become Chief Justice of India.

 

The Supreme Court Order opens flood gates to question the constitutional validity of the 1991 Act, subjecting it to review, igniting religious flashpoints between the Hindus and the Muslims,  keeping the pot boiling in perpetuity. That the Supreme Court didn’t object to the survey of the Gyanavapi mosque complex is an indication of the 1991 Act not putting an end to the Mandi-Masque disputes that run into thousands.  In fact, encouraged by the survey order of the Varanasi court, some people have filed suit demanding a similar survey in Mathura and even demanding demolition of the Sahi-Eidgah mosque, claiming it to be Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi.  It is the Babri masjid script playing out in Varanasi and Mathura. We are not supposed to ask for the historical evidence for the claims of the Sangh Parivar that Varanasi and Mathura were the birth places of Lord Shiva and Krishna, and that the mosques were built over them by destroying the temples, like the Babri Masjid over the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. Now the right-wing extreme Hindu groups started claiming the heritage monuments-Taj Mahal and Qutab Minar- were constructed by destroying Hindu temples. Where does it all end?

 

The history of civilizations is a history of destruction and reconstruction. Many a civilization rose on the ruins of destruction of earlier ones. The destruction of temples and places of worship was part of human history from the dawn of civilization. The invaders and kings had destroyed everything that came in their way in order to expand their kingdoms and empires.

 

A large number of Jain and Buddhist shrines were destroyed by Hindu kings. The Buddhist statues, Stupas and Viharas were destroyed in the name of the revival of Hinduism. Indigenous and foreign sources, both literary and archaeological, speak volumes of the havoc done to Buddhism. In the post Gupta period, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim and traveler Hsüan Tsang, who visited India between the years 631 and 645 during the reign of Harshvardhana, wrote that: " the sixth-century Huna ruler Mihirakula, a devotee of Shiva, destroyed 1,600 Buddhist stupas and monasteries and killed thousands.“ The emperor Ashoka, who embraced Buddhism after the Kalinga war and spread Buddhism across the countries in Asia, said to have built 84,000 stupas, most with edicts inspired by Buddhist teachings. However, the Brahmins, during the rule of King Pushyamitra Shunga of Shunga dynasty, had destroyed countless number of Buddhist stupas and monasteries.

 

A major part of India was ruled by the Muslims from the period of Muhammad Bin Qassim-8the century- till the fall of the Mughal Empire -18^th century. The Mughal Empire had, inter alia, contributed to the art, architecture and composite culture.  We cannot ignore the Muslim rule, and bank only on ‘correcting the historical wrongs’ committed by Aurangzeb and disown the medieval history of a millennium. Our children have a right to know the history of that period. Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal Empire, conquering much of southern India through long bloody campaigns. He forcibly converted Hindus to Islam and destroyed Hindu temples. But that is history. Why should the present generation be made to suffer for his ‘wrongs’?

 

How could India- a modern nation-state- with multi-religious and ethnic diversity, tolerate taking revenge on a particular minority community for the ‘historical wrongs’ committed by their ancestors centuries ago? Should we allow the pseudo-Hindu nationalists to rewrite history and leave the nation in a perpetual state of war? And unless this communal fire is doused, it is doubtful whether India in its present form would survive. We have to learn to co-exist and live in peace and harmony, accepting plurality and diversity of Indian society,

 

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, participating in a passionate debate in his country’s parliament recently, had invoked Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to emphasis on democratic values and expressed dismay how 'Nehru’s India has become one where almost half of MPs in the Lok Sabha have criminal charges pending against them'.   And today, the world is aghast how Nehru’s secular India being destroyed.

 

The assertion of aggressive Hindu nationalism and majoritarian power endangers the unity and integrity of India. Narendra Modi, addressing a virtual youth conference, organised by Shri Swaminarayan Temple, Kundaldham and Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Kareli Baugh, Vadodara, on May 19, said: “Today, India is offering solutions to problems of the world… To building a nation capable of establishing peace in the midst of global unrest and conflicts, India is the new hope for the world.” It is a time for him to walk the talk and stop the Mandir-Masjid flashpoint igniting the communal fire.