Political Diary
New
Delhi , 18 May 2022
Gyanvapi Masjid Row
FIXING HISTORY OR DRIVING WEDGE?
By Poonam I Kaushish
Politicians are an unholy lot who take a “holier than thou
attitude” on anything and everything --- be it religion or riots, scums or
scams. All fanatics when it comes to protecting their power bases. Nothing
stands testimony to this better than the “jihad”
unleashed over the Gyanvapi Masjid-Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Certainly, the masjid-temple symbolism is an intoxicating
potent which is being used by netas
to vet voters’ appetite depending on which side of the template one is on ---
Hindu or Muslim. Both have just
one faith — power.
Last week’s videography of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex to
know the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir’s present status has given political fodder after the Supreme Court refused to
intervene in a Varanasi court allowing it.
Pertinently, the Kashi-Masjid
dispute was one of the three religious places invoked by the RSS, BJP and VHP
during their Ram Mandir campaign, “Ayodhya
to bas jhaanki hai, Kashi-Mathura baaki hai.” Saffronites allege Mathura’s
Shahi Idgah Masjid was built by demolishing a temple at Lord Krishna
birthplace. A case is pending before a local court seeking to reclaim Katra
Keshav Dev Mandir complex.
Questionably, is the
genesis of the dispute to rectify history or drive a wedge between Hindus and
Muslims? Ensure BJP’s political future? Or is it about Shringar Gauri? What
does that have to do with the mosque?
History tells us the
Gyanvapi Masjid was built by Aurangzeb in 1669 after demolishing the ancient
Vishweshwar Mandir. The temple’s plinth was left untouched and continued to
serve as the mosque’s courtyard. But since 1991 it has been wrangled in legal
troubles when a descendant of Vishwanath temple priest and two others filed a
suit in Varanasi’s civil judge court demanding land be returned to them, bypassing
the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991(PoW).
In 1998, the court
ruled the suit was barred by PoW Act citing Section 3 which prohibits
converting a place of worship of a different religious denomination or a
different class of the same religious denomination. Section 4(2) states all
litigations, appeals or other proceedings relating to changing the nature of
the place of worship (which were pending till August 15, 1947) shall cease
after the enactment of this Act and no fresh action can be taken on such cases.
The petitioners
contended that the 1991 Act did not apply to the Masjid as the Mandir was
partly demolished to construct the Masjid. Also, as change in nature of worship
place had occurred after the cut-off date of August 15, 1947 legal action could
be initiated. The Ayodhya (Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid) dispute was exempted
from the Act.
Based on this a
revision petition was moved before the district court which allowed it and
asked the civil court to adjudicate the dispute, afresh. The Anjuman Intezamiya
Masjid Committee successfully challenged this in Allahabad High Court which
stayed proceedings.
The court case
remained pending for 22 before the 1991 advocate re-filed another plea
requesting Archaeological Survey of India survey the mosque-complex on the same
grounds: temple existed before being
demolished by Aurangzeb, which was proved by the continuous presence of Lingam,
questioning why being Hindus were deprived of their religious right to offer
water to lingam.
This was ceded by the
city-court on 8 April 2021. Alongside, a five-member committee comprising
archaeology experts with two members from the “minority community” was
constituted to determine whether any temple existed at the site, prior to the
mosque. The Anjuman Intezamiya Masjid Committee challenged it in the Allahabad
High Court which indefinitely stayed the survey.
On 18 August 2021
five women filed a petition demanding right to worship in Shringar Gauri temple
daily without any restrictions along-with other “visible and invisible deities
within the old temple complex”. Presently, devotees are allowed to worship only
on the fourth day of Chaitra Navratra. Today, post videography all eyes are on
what the court abjudicates.
To buttress its claim, a senior BJP leader underscored Kashi
Vishwanath Temple as Lord Shiva’s most significant shrine and prominent among 12
‘Jyotirlingas’ mentioned in Puranas.
It is part of our national heritage and symbol of nationalism which is at the
core of Indian consciousness. We have
given Kashi a political thrust for installing Hindu nationalism as India’s
dominant political credo.
Added another diehard
Saffronite, “The idea of communal harmony and unity flies in the face of
historical evidence even as Muslims use historic religious sites as reference
points to articulate their socio-political goals and build their modern
identities with different visions of a modern State.”
Musim clerics aver the Hindutva Sangh has found its golden
goose: Reclaiming temples by breaking mosques to get the Hindu majority
to keep bringing them back to power on an emotive issue built on the
foundation of aastha and badla from Muslim invaders, who
are history. The method is simple: instill a feeling
of victimisation within Hindus that they had been dealt unfairly by the Muslim
minority, first by Mughals and now by Congress which believed in Muslim
appeasement.
Today,
this victim complex has now culminated into a superiority complex
within a cross-section of the majority community which wants to
assert its identity by demolition of mosques and “reclaiming” temples. Ayodhya and Babri were the
political investments made three decades ago.
Said a member of All India Personal Law Board,“Neither Babri
masjid or Kashi Vishwanath temple is a religious issue for the BJP. They are
political issues for which they will gain benefits in 2024 elections. They want
to dip into their interest earnings from Ayodhya and make fresh investments —
basically go on an expansion drive, inject fresh fuel in religiosity via Kashi and Mathura which are part of
a grand effort to undermine India’s Islamic history. The motive is clear.
Monuments that remind the presence of Muslims ruling India must be destroyed.”
Already, seven BJP states have passed laws that criminalise
marriage between Muslims and Hindus and targeted laws and policies on namaaz, hijab, beef and talaq. The message is also larger —
demonisation of the Muslims. One can call them terrorists, anti-nationals or
rabid fundamentalists to completely destroy India’s pluralism.
Basically, it all boils down to a desire for political power,
a struggle for resources, ethnic rivalries and economic competition. The
repeated finger pointing between Hindus-Muslims reveal that for power both will
adopt diabolical machinations to create a secular-communal divide. There is no
desire to uphold equal respect for various faiths. Instead unashamedly use
religion to increase their so-called popularity with voters.
In this milieu wrought with friction our
leaders need to understand that by playing Hindus- Muslims against each other
they are only serving their vested interests. Communalism thrives on one
community’s hate for the other along-with playing up the psychosis of
retaliation. At the end of the day, when our polity does a cost-benefit
analysis, they need to answer a simple question: Is there vote-bank politics
really worth the price the country is paying? Who will bear the cross and
answer to Gods? ---- INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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