Ayodhya no justification for evil actions of Hindu fundamentalists
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - "The ruling of the Court of Lucknow will be very welcome, it will rule that the strip of land in Ayodhya really belongs to Babri Mosque." Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, director of the Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace 'Prashant' in Ahmedabad, speaks to AsiaNews about the significance of the imminent decision, which will be announced today, after many years. Fr Prakash hopes that the decision of the Court will be in favour of the mosque, but he says that in any case we should respect the ruling of the Court.
Father Prakash is confident that "there could be no other judgment. To have said that it belongs to the right-wing Hindu group(for whatever the reason) would have been legitimatizing their evil and divisive actions these past many years.The minorities in India have really been victims of these right -wing fundamentalists who follow an ideology called "Hindutva" and in no way represents mainline Hindu religion".
“In 1992, a right-wing Hindutva political group planned to hold a rally near the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya [see photo] and promised the Indian Supreme Court that nothing would happen to the mosque. Untrue to its word, a kar sevak[a volunteer for a religious cause] climbed onto a dome of the Babri Mosque. Others followed and proceeded to level the mosque. The Babri Mosque destruction sparked rioting throughout India, but most of the rioting occurred in Bombay. Approximately 2 thousand Muslims were killed”.
“The Bombay Bomb Blasts in 1993,which were the most destructive blasts in Indian history, slowed the aggressive posturing by the Hindu fundamentalists. In some ways this also helped the Muslims of Gujarat who for some years had been at the receiving end of the agenda of right-wing Hindus. The Muslims of Gujarat seemed to be in a better position to counteract any attack by the Hindutva elements within the Government"
“Because the BJP party was frightened to attack the Muslims again for fear of retaliation, the BJP had to find a different campaign platform. Unlike many other countries where politicians will campaign for the needs of the people, this has never been a top priority (and never will be) in Indian politics. Therefore, these Hindu fundamentalists found another soft target, namely the Christians, to consolidate their position in Gujarat. The anti-Christian campaign platform was successful, and in March 1998, the Hindu nationalist BJP won a two-third majority in Gujarat”.
“It was the very first State in the country that gave them such a massive mandate with blind support. The build up to this victory was gradual but efficiently planned; it was clear that the BJP had positioned Gujarat to become the laboratory for the Hindutva ideology. From March 1998 onwards, Christians and their institutions were attacked with frightening regularity. A huge church that was under construction was pulled down in Ahmedabad by a mob. Several other churches throughout other parts of South Gujarat were attacked or burnt in December 1998 and January 1999”.
“On 4th December 1998, more than 35,000 Christians marched on the streets of Ahmedabad in a protest rally against the attacks on Christians in Gujarat and other parts of India. For the first time, the fundamentalist Hindu elements were put on the defensive though that did not stop them from rampaging a few weeks later. In 1999 a government came to power supported by both Christians and Muslims”.
“After a hue and cry nationally and internationally, the attacks on the Christians gradually subsided. However, this anti-Christian campaign platform had already translated into very important parliamentary seats in the general elections of 1999. (This Christian bashing still continues as was seen in February 2006, when fundamentalist groups organized a huge Hindu revival programme called the Shabri Kumbh Melain and was aimed solely against the Christians The famous Chief Minister of Gujarat called Christian missionaries and their supporters ‘arrogant,’ ‘charlatans,’ and ‘hypocrites’ during this gathering”.
“Today, more than eight years after the Gujarat Carnage, minority bashing has become institutionalized in the State of Gujarat. This takes place in both subtle and direct ways. Christians, who constitute a miniscule 0.53% of the State’s population, continue to be the object of intimidation and harassment from the authorities. There are constant enquiries on ‘foreign funding’, on whether the Christians have foreigners among them, on the type of activities they engage in to empower the Adivasis and Dalits, etc. Since January 2010, there have been at least sixty official, but unconstitutional, enquiries on Christian institutions Every year before Christmas, the Sangh Parivar has been organizing ‘ghar vapasi’ programmes in areas that have large Christian populations”.
“The Hindu fundamentalists and the State Government have no qualms about tampering with the Judiciary to benefit their majoritarian agenda. There are several Government-appointed public prosecutors for the Gujarat Carnage legal proceedings who have primary membership in the Hindu fundamentalist parties. Because of the Hindutva bias amongst Gujarat Judiciary, the Supreme Court of India has had to move cases out of Gujarat and try them elsewhere. On 5th March 2010, the Chief Justice of Gujarat categorically stated, “We are concerned about the future of the Gujarat Judiciary, where money has become the main source and where you can buy anybody with the power of money”.
“In March 2003, the Gujarat Government unanimously passed its unconstitutional Freedom of Religion Act that prohibits anyone from changing his or her faith unless one has the permission of the civil authority. For five years, the Government did not have the courage to frame the rules that are needed to govern such an act, but it finally did so in 2008”.
“The Act is clearly directed against the minorities because the Government has a misplaced fear that an increasing number of adivasis and dalits of the State will want to embrace either Islam or Christianity”.
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31/12/2018 14:02
