Ayodhya: The Redefining of India

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2010, Vol. 45, No. 38
(SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2010), pp. 7-8
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

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 m Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
SEPTEMBER l8, 2010

Ayodhya: The Redefining of India

How this dispute over a place of worship has redefined much of India.

|he Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute has been one This issue, single-handedly, provided the platform for Hindutva
of the biggest influences in the shaping of independent politics to expand its social and regional base to almost all parts
JL India. It appears almost unreal to remember that this is, in of the country. The very name "Hindutva" emerged in common
legal terms, a mere dispute over the title to a small plot of land in parlance through this movement to refer to the politics and ideology
a nondescript historical town of north India. The land in question, of Hindu nationalism, when earlier it was referred to simply as
on which stood a medieval mosque, belongs to the Sunni Wakf communalism. Instead of being seen as the anti-thesis of anti
Board, while the Ramananda sect of Ayodhya claims that it is the colonial nationalism in India, Hindutva gained a certain respect
site of the birth of the Hindu god Rama, and so it should be given ability and is now often seen as merely a variant of Indian nation
to them to build a temple. This is not exceptional in India where alism. The Ayodhya dispute helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (b jp)
many sites are claimed by different religious traditions as their to become the principal opposition to the Congress while previously
own, sometimes competing but often coexisting. that opposition space had been occupied by parties of the left,
In 1949, during the troubled period after Partition when the both socialist and communist. In that sense, the Ramjanmabhoomi
Muslim minority of Uttar Pradesh was particularly vulnerable, movement led to the structural shift in the centre of gravity of
idols of Ram and his consort Sita were installed inside the Babri India's polity from centre-left to centre-right. More importantly,
Masjid. The district collector, who later contested the parliamentary by bringing the b jp to power, it allowed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
elections on a Bharatiya Jan Sangh ticket, pointedly refused orders Sangh (rss) and its "family" to infiltrate the institutions of the
from Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and up Chief Minister, Indian state and entrench their reactionary agendas in them.
G B Pant, to remove the idols from the mosque. He also attached The mass appeal of the Ayodhya agitation bestowed respect
the Wakf property where the Babri Masjid stood and barred ability on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and helped them push
Muslims from coming within 300 yards of the monument, while revanchist and retrograde agendas to the forefront. They man
allowing Hindus to enter the mosque and continue their prayers.aged to push back many progressive agendas and, for the first
This set the stage for the legal battle between the Sunni Wakf time, brought the issues of secularism and democracy into con
Board which claims it was illegally deprived of the land and tention. It was possible now to openly demand a "Hindu" state,
building it owned and those who wanted to make a temple on this the revocation of secular laws, the scrapping of constitutional
land. It is this legal dispute on which the Lucknow bench of the protection for minorities and to attack democratic institutions.
Allahabad High Court will deliver a judgment on 24 September Not only did the Ayodhya agitation shift the political anchor to
2010, almost 61 years after the idols were smuggled inside the the centre-right, it also shifted the dominant political discourse
mosque. Although it is difficult to predict what the verdict will be, from one based on rights and entitlements to one based on iden
it is fairly obvious that one, or both, parties to the dispute will go tity and primordial associations.
on to the Supreme Court against the high court's order. Some movements managed to meet this challenge, such as the
Unfortunately, for the past two decades and more, this dispute women's movement which changed its demand for a universal
has not remained a mere legal one, but has been the core of a civil code to one of democratising the personal laws of each com
violent political movement which has claimed the lives of tens of munity. Other progressive movements did not fare as well: the
thousands of India's citizens in riots and massacres in communal land question in the rural areas got sidelined with the emergence
violence as well as led to the destruction of the Babri Masjid, of identity politics, while the vacuum created by trade union
almost all planned and instigated by the proponents of this decline in urban areas was filled by Hindutva and other such
movement. This massive violence also helped spawn fundamen movements. But the struggle to defend the secular, democratic
talist and violent politics of its own kind among the Muslim and liberal aspects of the Indian republic also helped progressive
communities. The agitation over the Ramjanmabhoomi dispute movements - both political and social - to work out strategies to
has in many ways changed the political, social and cultural fabric fight right reaction. The public contestations over definitions of
of the country. nationalism, secularism and democracy have also helped to enrich

Economic & Political weekly E9BC3 September 18, 2010 vol xlv no 38 7

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 EDITORIALS

the academic debate. Social sciences in India today are repositories been successful in taking over in the way they had
of some of the most thorough and enlightening debates on these hoped and we had feared. Rather, the Indian people and their
ideas. These have not remained confined to the academy but democratic traditions have fought back to reclaim their spaces
have fed into new forms of popular and progressive movements. and ideas. Whatever the decision of the court on 24 September,
It is an achievement that despite all the depredations and inroads the struggle against Hindutva has only to be strengthened and we
made by Hindutva into India's state and society, they have not must remain eternally vigilant.

High Cost of Information

A basic assurance of protection is essential for wider participation in the right to information.

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the enactment of the Additionally, Maharashtra has been a leader in rti legislation,
Right to Information (rti) Act, the numerous violent adopting a state law ahead of the national. To what extent this
attacks on activists deploying the law to ferret out instances violence can be attributed to a reaction to higher levels of awareness
of wrongdoing within the system reflect attempts to muzzle the and reportage, and to what extent to the higher stakes for vested
power of this legislation. This intimidation, in some instances interests and beneficiaries of politician-industry cronyism is unclear.
even ending in murder, is a serious threat to the effective function Important in and of itself, understanding these mechanisms is
ing of the rti Act, although in the past the government itself has key to framing the right legislative and policy response to violence
tried to weaken the provisions of this law. It is in this context that and intimidation against users of the Act. Broadly in the right
the provisions of the recently tabled Public Interest Disclosure and direction, it is in these details that the efficacy of the Public Interest
Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill, 2010 have come Disclosure Bill in preventing such assaults comes into question. A
under scrutiny for their ability to check and reverse this tide of comparison by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative shows
intimidation ("Will Truth Prevail?", epw, 11 September 2010). In that the law in India only follows Commonwealth precedent in
the first seven months of the year, Maharashtra saw four murders, distinguishing between legal protection to the whistle-blower,
of the rti activists Satish Shetty, Arun Sawant, Vitthal Gite and which is typically part of the access to information enactment it
Dattatreya Patil. Another activist, Ramdas Ghadegavkar, was self, and more substantive protection from vendetta, which is
found dead under mysterious circumstances in Nanded in late provided separately through some kind of Protected Disclosures
August. While it is the most heinous of these crimes against rti Act. However, there has been inadequate public debate in the
users that have gathered the most media attention, there have drafting of the bill and it is only now, after it has been tabled in
been many violent incidents that have not ended in murder. In Parliament, that the provisions of the proposed law are coming
Maharashtra again, in the same January-July period, in five to be known.
incidents, rti activists were attacked but fortunately escaped Although sections 19 (8) (b) and 20 of the rti Act provide for
with their lives. penalties in the case of negligence or mala fide intention on
It is notable that most of these attacks occurred in Mumbai, the part of relevant public authorities and public information
where activists have easier access to a range of civic resources officers, these provisions do not go far enough. The precise forms
and media attention. In more media-remote rural and semi-urban of protection offered to persons making disclosures under the
areas, vested interests may be able to keep the causes of the bill similarly remain unspecified. Prominent rti activists have
violence and threats suffered by rti activists shrouded in ambiguity, expressed scepticism about both the effectiveness of police
as has happened with the death of Ghadegavkar, which police protection as an aid for citizen users of the law as well as about
were unable to rule as a murder even two days after the incident. the viability of the anonymity protection under the conditions in
It is worth noting that in several instances, activists have faced a which they work. Instead, they have argued for transparent and
long series of escalating threats and violence, which have received guaranteed investigation of cases of victimisation, a measure the
little state cognisance. For instance, a nephew of a ruling party bill does not quite address. Also, paradoxically, it is only broad
mla has been arrested in connection with the murder of the rti based participation and use of the rti Act that can weaken those
activist Amit Jethwa, who was killed near the Gujarat High Court who seek to use violence to silence the activists. The prominence
in Ahmedabad in July. Jethwa reportedly survived a similar and dedication of individual activists is precisely what puts them
attack by the same mla three years ago but the family's appeals at risk. A hundred users of information are far more difficult to
to higher authorities for protection went unanswered. eliminate than a single one.
Several patterns in these episodes deserve close investigation. The absence of clear mechanisms to protect users raises the
For instance, a significant number among the assaulted activists, costs to the average citizen of utilising the rti legislation, and
including Jethwa, had been engaged in highlighting environmental restricts its use to only the most public-spirited of citizens. A basic
abuse and, in general, illegal use of land and natural resources. promise of safety will go the farthest in ensuring the widest civic
The largest numbers of incidents have been reported from participation in the rti, a goal that is perhaps too unevenly
Maharashtra and Gujarat, two of the most prosperous states. shared across sections of the State.

8 September 18, 2oio vol xlv no 38 GEE9 Economic & Political weekly

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