<p>The attempts being made to rake up controversies over places of worship in some parts of the country are deliberate moves to create social and political division and turmoil and to challenge the secular nature of the State, which is a basic feature of the Constitution. These attempts are in blatant violation of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which "prohibits conversion of any place of worship" and seeks “to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947”. The current campaign and demands pertain to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura and other shrines in some other towns. Litigation has been launched and even judicial process has started on some of the demands in an atmosphere vitiated with communal poison, distortion of history and misinterpretation of law. </p>.<p>By deciding to preserve the status quo on the places of worship as on August 15, except in the case of Babri Masjid, the Places of Worship Act sought to freeze all such divisive controversies and in effect put an end to them. It is the law of the land now and covers all sites to which the Hindutva groups have raised claims, including the present centres of controversies. The validity of the law has been endorsed by the Supreme Court in its 2019 judgement in the Babri Masjid case in which it described the demolition as a criminal act. It said that “the State has, by enacting the law, enforced a constitutional commitment and operationalised its constitutional obligations to uphold the equality of all religions and secularism which is a part of the basic features of the Constitution”. It also said that the Act “imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing our commitment to secularism”. </p>.<p>The current campaign is motivated by communal hatred, by the itch to trouble and humiliate the minority community and by the majoritarian instinct to control and marginalise it. It is wrong to go back into history and try to correct the past. Claims about the excesses and mistakes of the past do not legitimise the excesses and wrongs of the present. The government has not officially said anything about the vicious campaign that is going on. Its position, however, can be inferred from the support BJP leaders and spokesmen have extended to the campaign. But it has the responsibility and “non-derogable obligation” to respect the present law in letter and spirit and uphold it. It has the numbers in parliament to amend the law, and demands have been made for that. If it does that, it will not just be rejecting the law but undermining an important part of the Constitution.</p>
<p>The attempts being made to rake up controversies over places of worship in some parts of the country are deliberate moves to create social and political division and turmoil and to challenge the secular nature of the State, which is a basic feature of the Constitution. These attempts are in blatant violation of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which "prohibits conversion of any place of worship" and seeks “to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947”. The current campaign and demands pertain to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura and other shrines in some other towns. Litigation has been launched and even judicial process has started on some of the demands in an atmosphere vitiated with communal poison, distortion of history and misinterpretation of law. </p>.<p>By deciding to preserve the status quo on the places of worship as on August 15, except in the case of Babri Masjid, the Places of Worship Act sought to freeze all such divisive controversies and in effect put an end to them. It is the law of the land now and covers all sites to which the Hindutva groups have raised claims, including the present centres of controversies. The validity of the law has been endorsed by the Supreme Court in its 2019 judgement in the Babri Masjid case in which it described the demolition as a criminal act. It said that “the State has, by enacting the law, enforced a constitutional commitment and operationalised its constitutional obligations to uphold the equality of all religions and secularism which is a part of the basic features of the Constitution”. It also said that the Act “imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing our commitment to secularism”. </p>.<p>The current campaign is motivated by communal hatred, by the itch to trouble and humiliate the minority community and by the majoritarian instinct to control and marginalise it. It is wrong to go back into history and try to correct the past. Claims about the excesses and mistakes of the past do not legitimise the excesses and wrongs of the present. The government has not officially said anything about the vicious campaign that is going on. Its position, however, can be inferred from the support BJP leaders and spokesmen have extended to the campaign. But it has the responsibility and “non-derogable obligation” to respect the present law in letter and spirit and uphold it. It has the numbers in parliament to amend the law, and demands have been made for that. If it does that, it will not just be rejecting the law but undermining an important part of the Constitution.</p>
