NOVEMBER 11 — Centuries-old Babari Mosque was built in 1528–29 (935 AH) by general Mir Baqi, on orders of the Mughal emperor Babar, in Ayodhya, India. A dispute arose among Muslims and Hindus communities in the 18th Century, as Hindus claim the place as the birthplace of Hindu deity God Rama. In 1853, British rulers divided the courtyard into two parts by a fence and dedicated a part for Hindus to worship and another part was still in-use by Muslims as usual. In 1947, the sub-continent was divided into Muslim majority Pakistan and Hindu majority India. The tension was afresh as Hindus gained a majority in India. Muslims constitute around 15 per cent of the population.
In the 1950s the case was formally filed into court for the right of worship by Hindus. But due to lack of evidence and due to the nature of sensitivity, the case was not finalised for seven decades. It was pending and prolonged for 70 years, as no one was able to give a final verdict based on facts in favour of Muslims and scared of violence from the Hindu community.
The mosque was attacked and demolished by Karsevaks in 1992 and ignited communal violence across the country where more than 2000 Muslims were killed. Since then, Indian Courts were sitting on the case and scared to reveal the facts due to backlash by Hindu extremists.
Prime Minister Modi, was among the mob attack on Babari Mosque in 1992. He was playing a leading role in the attack on the mosque. He was also involved in the massacre of thousands of killings of Muslims in 2002 in Gujrat when he was Chief Minister of Gujrat state.
Prime Minister Modi, belongs to RSS an extremist Hindu political party. During his election campaign earlier this year, he declared to hand over the place of Babari Mosque to Hindus and finally he got votes from the extremist Hindu segment of the society and won the election by a majority.
He kept his promise and pressurised courts in India and finally, he did, what was expected. The Indian government deployed extra force to suppress any reaction from Muslims and arrested or detained Muslim scholars, activists, leaders, politicians and common citizens. The court decision was decided already and all precautionary measures were placed in advance.
According to reports about the court decision “India’s Supreme Court has awarded Hindus control of a disputed religious site in the town of Ayodhya for the construction of a temple, in a landmark verdict announced amid heightened security across the country. Muslims will be given five acres of land at an alternative site in Ayodhya, in northern Uttar Pradesh state, the top court ruled on Saturday”.
The court decision is biased, against the basic principles of justice, and highly politicised. It has spread a wave of anger among the 2 billion Muslims around the world. The Muslims in India are in minority, and suppressed, may not react in any intensity, but it has hurt the feelings. The hate and polarity may have grown further. Since Modi came into power, his bias and anti-minority policies were exercised. During his first tenure, BJP was not in the absolute majority, so he could not harm the minorities to that extent. But during his second tenure, he got an absolute majority, where he can make any legislation according to his wishes. He has harmed minorities to an irreversible extent. Like his accession of Kashmir, anti-Muslimism policies in Assam regarding citizenship issues, and latest, his pressure on courts to give verdict which courts could not give since the 1950s.
This decision is a message of hate, Nazism, anti-minorities and a black spot on the face of India. There was a time when people thought of India as the largest democracy and a secular state. But today, India has been hijacked by extremist Hindus, and it has become a Hindu extremist state, no longer a secular state. The elections were held under a very tense environment, where Hindu extremists were using all types of torture, pressure, and dirty-tricks to force people to vote for extremist’s Hindu candidates. It was not a free and fair election, where people can vote according to their free will without any pressure. So, India is not the largest democracy anymore. It has turned into an extremists’ Hindus state. Where minorities are victims.
There is a reaction from moderate Hindus within the India and opposition parties are also expressing their dissatisfaction. Human rights organisations, NGOs and impartial civic society are also considering it a biased decision. Media is scared to criticise openly, but not satisfied with this politicisation. Muslims inside India are sacred and are afraid of more cruelty.
In the international community, it has been criticised widely and especially the Western World is also not satisfied with its handling and politicisation. The civilised world has been criticising the biased decision and afraid of a reaction from the Muslim world. OIC is also not satisfied with this decision. The general public in Muslim countries are not happy and very angry about such an unfair court verdict.
In fact, India has been exposed and the civilised world has seen the true face of India.
* Prof Engr Zamir Ahmed Awan is a sinologist, ex-diplomat, academician, researcher, member of the editorial board (World Scientific), peace-activist, geo-analyst, and Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Centre for China and Globalisation).
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.