Thirty two years after a Hindutva mob demolished Ayodhya’s Babri masjid on December 6, 1992, contending that it had been built over the birthplace of the Hindu god Ram, similar claims are being made on several other mosques.
Courts have been admitting cases asking for mosques to be surveyed to look for evidence that they were built over temples, even though the Places of Worship Act of 1991 freezes the religious character of a site as it was at Independence in 1947.
How far back in time will we dig to attempt to repair this purported sense of historical injustice – and what is to be gained from such provocations? Is it the agenda of the state to make the majority community feel insecure and to compensate for this by acting against minorities? How did the demolition of the Babri masjid unleash majoritarianism and Islamophobia?
Discussing these questions with author and peace worker Harsh Mander in the latest episode of The State of the Nation are retired justice Anjana Prakash, author and former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission Zafar ul Islam and journalist and activist John Dayal.
The name of Karwan e Mohabbat’s Yeh Daag Daag Ujala series is a tribute to the iconic poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
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