Page 11 - Pakistan Link - November 15, 2019

PAKISTAN NOVEMBER 15, 2019 – PAKISTAN LINK – P11

With Indian Supreme Court’s Ruling, Modi’s Babri Mosque Verdict ‘Shreds the Veneer

Hindu-First Agenda Barrels Forward of Secularism of India’: Foreign Office

The latest boost for PM Modi came on Saturday when the Supreme Court handed Hindu groups control of a contested site “The decision has, once again, failed to uphold the demands of justice,” a statement
where a 16th-century mosque was razed over two decades ago, paving the way for the construction of a temple there issued by the Foreign Office said
Delhi: Just six months after sweep- the country. ists thought the Muslim custom Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday ex- ded the veneer of so-called secularism
ing to re-election, Indian Prime In its verdict on Saturday, the was wrong, some Muslim groups pressed “deep concern” over the Indian of India by making clear that minori-
Minister Narendra Modi has deliv- Supreme Court called the mosque’s said Modi was targeting them while Supreme Court’s ruling in the historic ties in India are no longer safe; they
ered on two major promises of his demolition illegal but handed the turning a blind eye to discrimina- Babri Masjid case, saying it had made have to fear for their beliefs and for
Hindu-first agenda, electrifying his plot of land to Hindus, who believe tion in Hindu society. it clear that “minorities in India are no their places of worship”.
base but sowing unease among lib- the site is the birthplace of Lord Despite the focus on social is- longer safe”. The FO expressed concern that “a
erals and the nation’s Muslim mi- Ram, a much venerated god-king. sues, political analysts predict the While announcing its judgement process of re-writing history is under-
nority. The court directed that another plot government and the BJP will have to on a disputed land where Hindu hard- way in India in order to recast it in the
The latest boost for Modi came in Ayodhya be provided to a Muslim shift attention quickly to a sagging liners demolished the 16th-century image of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ in pursu-
on Saturday, when the Supreme group that contested the case. economy and surging unemploy- Babri mosque in 1992, India’s top court ance of the Hindutva ideology”, add-
Court handed Hindu groups con- In over a dozen interviews, ment or risk losing popular support. earlier in the day ruled in favor of the ing that the trend is also fast affecting
trol of a contested site where a 16th- Muslim community leaders, busi- India, long touted as the world’s Hindus and said that a temple will be India’s major institutions.
century mosque was razed over two nessmen, and students said they fastest-growing large economy, has constructed on the Ayodhya land. “The rising tide of extremist ide-
decades ago, paving the way for the respected the verdict but it exacer- seen economic expansion wither to “The decision has, once again, ology in India, based on the belief of
construction of a temple there that bated their sense of alienation. six-year lows. failed to uphold the demands of jus- Hindu supremacy and exclusion, is a
has long been an election promise “Why did the court then give Two college students — one tice,” a statement issued by the Foreign threat to regional peace and stability,”
of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party a ruling which is completely one- Hindu, one Muslim — in Uttar Office said, pointing out that the Unit- the press release said.
(BJP). sided? Was the court under pres- Pradesh’s capital Lucknow separate- ed Nations had recently noted that the It said the Indian government
That followed New Delhi’s sure? We don’t know. We can’t trust ly said after the court verdict that Indian Supreme Court’s response to should ensure protection to Muslims,
move in August to strip Muslim- anyone now. No door is open for they hoped the government would human rights petitions in the context their lives, rights and properties and
majority Indian-occupied Kashmir us,” said local Muslim community now focus on economic issues. of Indian-occupied Kashmir had been “avoid being yet again a silent specta-
of its special status in what Modi’s leader Azam Quadri during evening “This case has gone on for so “slow”. tor of Muslims becoming the victims
government said was a bid to inte- prayers in Ayodhya. long [...] Now that it’s done with al- “This decision points out that of Hindu extremists and zealots”.
grate the restive region with the rest ‘Best to be numb’: While Modi together, maybe more economic is- when the court acts, it is unable to pro- The FO also called upon the in-
of predominantly-Hindu India. himself has said the court verdict sues can come forward”, said Rajat tect the interests of India’s minorities,” ternational community, the UN and
Now, the BJP may move to- should not be seen as a “win or loss” Mishra, a business student. the press release added. other human rights organizations to
wards delivering on its third tradi- for anyone, many Muslims Reuters “Attention can now move be- The court’s unanimous decision, play their role by “restraining India
tional plank: Creating a uniform spoke to expressed resignation after yond topics of religion,” said medi- which is likely to have a significant im- from its pursuit of an extremist ide-
civil code that does away with the the ruling. cal student Irfan, 22, who declined pact on fraught relations between In- ology” and to ensure equal rights and
independence of religious commu- Some were bitter that a probe to give his surname. - Reuters dia’s Hindus and Muslims, “has shred- protection of the minorities in India.
nities. into the demolition has inconclu-
“After just a few months of sively dragged on for three decades Why Muslims Only Must Prove Exclusive Possession of Site
Modi 2.0, they’ve accomplished two and that many of the politicians ac-
out of three (main cultural objec- cused of conspiring to take down n By Sruthisagar Yamunan how took precedence over the Muslim conclude that a temple had been demol-
tives). It’s quite possible that they the mosque are prominent BJP claim. ished to build the 16th century mosque.
will accomplish all three by next members. Those people have said n page 215 of the Ayodhya- It also pointed to the date of the temple
year,” said Milan Vaishnav, a senior the demolition was spontaneous Babri Masjid verdict, deliv- Possession of the site as 12th century, citing the long gap be-
fellow at the Carnegie Endowment and not planned. Oered by a five-judge bench on The judgement spends consider- tween the date of the temple and the
for International Peace in Washing- “I feel humiliated by the Su- Saturday, the Supreme Court makes a able space analyzing two crucial aspects construction of the mosque in 1528.
ton DC. preme Court verdict,” said one af- crucial statement of logic: “It is true of the legal dispute that began in 1885, Having done so, the court said the
“It’s striking that the govern- fluent Mumbai-based Muslim busi- that in matters of faith and belief, the when the mahant of the Nirmohi Akha- ASI findings could not be the basis of
ment has moved with a clarity of nessman, who declined to give his absence of evidence may not be evi- ra, an organization of Hindu ascetics, awarding title in a land dispute, disre-
purpose on its social agenda that’s name. “Others don’t care. They have dence of absence.” moved the courts to establish his right garding a crucial point that there was no
completely absent when it comes to become numb. It’s best to be numb But in its final findings, the court to worship at the assumed Ram Janmas- concrete link between the destruction of
economic matters,” added Vaishnav in Modi’s India.” contradicted this same logic. than. First is the report of the Archaeo- the ancient temple and the construction
in reference to the slowing of the Some people believe that Hin- The crux of the judgment that India logical Survey of India produced on the of the mosque.
country’s once red-hot economic du nationalists, galvanized by the has awaited since 1949 is that Muslims directions of the Allahabad High Court The court said: “A finding of title
growth. Ayodhya triumph, could turn their failed to show unimpeded possession of in 2003. The second is a set of literary cannot be based in law on the archaeo-
Many Muslims have watched attention to two other Uttar Pradesh the disputed site in Ayodhya between and official documents, including the logical findings which have been arrived
with a mix of fear and resignation mosques they believe Mughal con- 1528, when the mosque was supposedly accounts of European travelers and Brit- at by ASI. Between the twelfth century to
as the BJP has morphed into the of- querors built over the remains of built by Mughal emperor Babur, and ish gazetteers, relating to the disputed which the underlying structure is dated
ficially secular country’s near-undis- Hindu temples centuries ago. 1857, when, after a clash between Mus- site since the 18th century. and the construction of the mosque in
puted political force. “This (verdict) seems to gen- lims and Hindus, a railing was erected From the ASI report, the court the sixteenth century, there is an inter-
The controversial site in the erate incentives for Hindus to take between the inner and outer courtyards concedes that a structure existed be- vening period of four centuries. No evi-
northern state of Uttar Pradesh down mosques and resettle,” said at the disputed site. The inner courtyard neath the mosque. It said that a reason- dence has been placed on the record in
has been one of the most explosive Neelanjan Sircar, an assistant pro- is where the mosque demolished by able inference could be drawn on the ba- relation to the course of human history
issues in the nation of 1.3 billion, fessor at Ashoka University near Hindutva mobs in 1992 stood. The outer sis of the standard of proof that governs between the twelfth and sixteen centu-
where Muslims constitute about 14 New Delhi. courtyard has several Hindu shrines. civil trials that the underlying structure ries. No evidence is available in a case of
per cent of the population. Another likely move is the uni- While the judgment strains to that provided the foundations of the this antiquity on (i) the cause of destruc-
In 1992, a rally led by the BJP form civil code. point out that the matter was not decid- mosque together with its architectural tion of the underlying structure; and (ii)
and affiliate organizations spiraled New Delhi has already taken ed on faith, it places the onus on Mus- features and recoveries “are suggestive whether the pre-existing structure was
out of control and a Hindu mob de- steps toward creating such a code, lims alone to prove exclusive possession of a Hindu religious origin comparable demolished for the construction of the
stroyed the Babri Masjid in the city with the BJP-led parliament in July of the site. There is no similar expecta- to temple excavations in the region and mosque. Title to the land must be decid-
of Ayodhya. That triggered riots in outlawing the centuries-old right tion from the Hindu side. This leaves the pertaining to the era”. ed on settled legal principles and apply-
which about 2,000 people, most of of a Muslim man to instantly di- impression that the Hindu belief in the It, however, chose to contextualize ing evidentiary standards which govern
them Muslims, were killed across vorce his wife. While many activ- site being the birthplace of Ram some- this report and state that the ASI did not MUSLIMS, P26
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