The democratic system today draws its central or moral sustenance from the judiciary – more so as the political leaderships are failing to look at and decide on matters from the perspective of merit. All of the judiciary might not necessarily be impartial or fair in their approaches. Yet, overall, the Indian judicial system displays a maturity that is a guarantee to the existence of this nation as a civilized society. An instance is the dismissal of a petition by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court that had sought the setting up of a fact-finding committee to study and publish the “real” history of Taj Mahal.
The petitioner, the media in-charge of the BJP in Ayodhya, also wanted opening of the closed 20 rooms in Taj Mahal to enable him go in and study the records, if any, kept there. Curiously, the petitioner had not done his homework before approaching the court. His counsel’s plea to adjourn the court proceedings to get at some facts, and the outright drubbing from the court, were proof of the casualness with which the petitioner presented his case. Worse, the obsession of the BJP leader might mean he or the BJP is seeking to open another front against Muslims – after demolishing the Babri Masjid and winning the right over the land in Ayodhya where it stood.
The BJP and other RSS outfits won this right after massive riots, bloodshed and disruption of life across northern states for years. The fight over a dilapidated mosque and a small patch of land sadly divided the Indian society vertically. The BJP outreach now is allegedly to list out more monuments for “grab”. Even as the Mogul invasion of the northern landmass had been a painful chapter in Indian history, all what had been done ages ago need not be revisited or a post-mortem done for partisan ends. Taj Mahal remains as the principal pride of India and the only monument from this country listed among the Seven Wonders of the World. By ignoring recorded facts and raising the communal temperature, the BJP and its allied entities will only be doing another disservice to the nation both short-term and long-term. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared when he took charge in 2014 that the Indian Constitution will be his Bhagavad Gita and he has generally been cautious thereafter against raising the communal temperature. The likes of Pravin Togadia have been tamed. The PM must stay the course for the good of the nation and get the BJP to act in positive ways.
