21 - 27 March 2002
Issue No.578
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 March 2002 Issue No.578 |
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Worship of the land
It began with a big bang and ended with a whimper. From New Delhi, Sudhanshu Ranjan reports on the latest twist in the sad saga of religious violence in Ayodhya
India's majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities continue to slug it out over the temple-mosque controversy in Ayodhya. The city's disputed holy site still makes religious leaders' blood boil -- but the most extreme violence has abated. The latest threat to the secular fabric of the Indian nation has, it seems, been successfully warded off.
For the extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), it was a do-or-die battle. The latest episode began when the VHP announced that, come what may, it would go ahead with its controversial bhoomi pujan (worship of the land) programme -- not at the disputed temple-mosque structure itself but on government-owned and undisputed land next door to it.
But the VHP's exuberance was dampened by the Supreme Court on 13 March, two days before its scheduled programme. The court said an emphatic "no" to any religious activity, including bhoomi pujan, on the government-acquired 68 acres of land. This was despite Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee's plea to the court that a "symbolic bhoomi pujan" be permitted there.
A further request to end the bhoomi pujan altogether, made by Muslim leader Mohamed Aslam (who goes under the alias "Bhure"), was referred to a larger bench. The court also ruled: "No part of the aforesaid land shall be handed over by the government to anyone, and the same shall be retained by it till the disposal of the writ petition; nor shall any part of this land be permitted to be occupied or used for any religious purpose or connection therewith."
The Court refused to entertain the VHP's counsel, who argued that a 1994 order by the same court to maintain the status quo applied only to the disputed land (2.77) acres and that there was no restriction on performing any worship at the undisputed site next door. The court disagreed, saying that until it was clear who exactly owned the land, the restrictions still applied. "As of today, it is an untouchable land," the judgment said.
The VHP, backed by the Attorney-General, even tried to argue that in the meantime, they should be allowed to build sites of worship and hold short services. The court, however, was not impressed. It told the VHP that the reason the government had acquired the land was so that, should the Muslims succeed in the litigation over the disputed 2.77 acres, they should be allowed to enjoy the "fruits of their success;" the final outcome should not be rendered meaningless for them because of the presence of Hindu properties all around.
The Attorney-General's support for the VHP in court touched off a storm with opposition parties, as well as with some of the BJP-led government's coalition allies. The government was accused of pushing the Hinduism agenda. But Attorney-General Sorabjee said that the government had not told him to seek permission from the court for symbolic worship: "I was only giving my own interpretation of the 1994 judgment regarding the status quo on a specific query from the bench," he said.
The issue became so hot that Sorabjee had to go to a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, called by the Prime Minister to clarify what had transpired in the court.
The Prime Minister was morally bound to implement the ruling and, speaking in parliament, he assured the public that he would do so. The VHP responded badly, however, toughening its stand and announcing that it would go ahead with its programme.
Another Hindu extremist leader, Mahant Ramchandra Das Paramchansa, threatened to commit suicide if he was not allowed to perform bhoomi pujan in Ayodhya on 15 March. At the last moment, however, a face-saving formula was worked out so that Paramchansa could hand over the shila (consecrated stone) to the divisional commissioner of Ayodhya at a spot close to the government-held land. Paramchansa backtracked from his threat to end his life.
After the hype came the damp squib. D-Day: 15 March, the date of the scheduled bhoomi pujan, was finally here. But after a drama that lasted a little over two hours, many were left wondering as to what had actually happened.
The shila daan (gifting of consecrated stone) programme passed off peacefully amidst unprecedented security. Another controversy cropped up when the commissioner of Ayodhya refused to accept the daan. The two stones with carvings were instead handed over to a special envoy of the prime minister, Shatrughna Singh, at about 3:45 pm -- away from the public gaze. Singh, a central government officer on special duty (OSD), later handed over the slabs to the additional district magistrate (of the city) with the directive of keeping them respectfully and in safe custody.
While the VHP hailed the government's decision to deploy an official to receive the consecrated pillar, the opposition charged the government with whipping up the communal petition and encouraging the pro-Hinduism forces. The VHP then tried to turn this to their advantage. On 16 March, they announced that a senior government official receiving the slab meant that the government had in principle accepted the VHP's stand for temple construction at the disputed site.
VHP leader Pravin Togadi said that the movement for the construction of the temple would continue and the programme of worship would go on till 2 June.
The opposition, however, made a vitriolic attack on the government. Describing Singh's participation as "a very important development," opposition leaders alleged that the BJP-led government was pandering to the VHP agenda. The BJP, for its part, denounced criticism from an increasingly desperate opposition. Everything had passed off peacefully, said the BJP, and the opposition really had nothing to criticise.
The Ayodhya episode had its repercussions in other states, however. Gujarat, which had just returned to normality after an orgy of communal violence, began to burn again. Five people were killed in Gujarat in fresh incidents of violence, just hours after the shila daan ceremony. In the state of Haryana, three mosques were damaged and shops and houses set ablaze at Loharu (Bhiwani), in reaction to reports of a cow having been slaughtered in an old bazaar mosque in Loharu.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent body of the BJP, again became aggressive. On Sunday it passed a resolution warning Muslims that their safety lay in the goodwill of the majority Hindu community. "Hindus live and let live. This does not mean Hindus can tolerate insults. They (Muslims) are safe if they win our goodwill .... Respect us and we will respect you," RSS joint general secretary Madan Das Devi said.
The RSS also demanded that India stop exporting rice, potatoes, onions and meat to neighbouring Bangladesh until the Bangladeshi government stopped atrocities on Hindu families. It urged the Indian government to treat the Hindu families as refugees forced to flee Bangladesh.
So 15 March might have passed off peacefully, but it is abundantly clear that the embers have not died down. The ball is still very much in the government's court; and the BJP-led administration will be required to take hard decisions to contain the seething cauldron.
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