Does interference of judiciary in setting religious disputes reflects our failure as social being

Does interference of judiciary in setting religious disputes reflects our failure as social being

(By Rounakshi Dey)

Image By:- Darshika Singh

We Failed as Social Beings:

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion” said Dalai Lama. India is a land of different cultures, religions, languages existing together in harmony. We are secular according to our Constitution. Keeping everything aside, we are social creatures, we are human beings. We do not identify other human beings on the basis of his religion, caste or creed, we identify him as a fellow social being. Every time, we have a religious war, we fail ourselves as social beings. Every time, we have bloodshed in the name of religion, we are ashamed, we have failed again. A society is not made by religions, a society is made of social beings. Each social being has a choice to follow whichever religion he pleases. We, define religion, we make religion, we follow a religion, and not the other way round. Whenever religion defines our identity, we fail as social beings.

We are Social Creatures:

Human beings cannot survive alone. We need each other, we need love, compassion and harmony to survive together and build a healthy society. After all, we are social beings, we make up the society where we reside. If we study all religious books, we will find that, our prophets and saints irrespective of their religious beliefs said, to love fellow human beings, to be compassionate, to show care and tolerance towards other religions. So, whenever we shed blood in the name of religion, we actually fail our religious saints. Years after these books were scripted, so-called leaders and gurus, started using religion for their personal benefit. They created a policy of divide and rule. Ignorant people instead of referring to the religious scripts, blindly followed these fake leaders. As a result, our country got segregated. Religious hatred grew manifold and people became intolerant. We failed each time, there were disputes, honour killing, riots, mass killing and so on. We failed ourselves as social creatures.

History of India’s Religious disputes:

• Our country’s history of religious disputes dates back to time to Mughals. The Mughals being followers of Islam, had hefty fines for Hindus. They started the communal hatred between the Hindus and the Muslims, which was eventually carried forward.

• This partition of India by the Britishers remains the greatest example of the Hindu-Muslim divide till date. The Britishers played their cards well, created a policy of Divide and Rule. They were successful in their attempt. Instead of identifying ourselves as Indians, we identified ourselves as Hindus and Muslims. Communal riots were common. Even though our forefathers were successful in gaining back our independence, we failed as Indians, as our beloved Nation got divided into two parts. Till date, both India and Pakistan carry the scar of religious disputes in their heart. Till date, we have communal differences between these Nations and we are still intolerant of each other.

• In the year 1989 to 1990, Kashmir saw another Hindu-Muslim polarisation, where Kashmiri Pandits were ruthlessly killed by Islamic Fundamentalists. Hindus were asked to leave Kashmir for good. The unrest in Kashmir continues till date.

• In 1969, we had a deadly Hindu-Muslim riot in Gujarat after a Hindu temple was attacked. The violence spread all over Gujarat and several people lost their lives.

• In the early 1980s, the Sikhs demanded autonomy as they felt dominated by Hindus. Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of our Nation, ordered the Army to arrest the Sikh Khalisthanis armed with weapons hiding inside the Golden Temple, famously known as ‘Operation Bluestar’. Attacking the Sikh religious place of worship, caused a huge uproar among Sikhs. Ultimately, Indira Gandhi got assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. This move angered the Hindus and they sought vengeance. Mass rioting began against the Sikhs resulting in thousands of death of citizens.

• In 1992, the Babri Masjid was destroyed by Hindu communities over the claim that originally a Hindu temple existed there. Religious riots began seeking thousands of lives in multiple places across the decades. A coach train carrying Hindu pilgrimages was burnt at Godhra station in 2002, which was followed by riots in Gujarat seeking the lives of thousands of Muslim communities. Riots have continued for years in multiple parts of the country, till the verdict of the Supreme Court in 2019.

• Christian communities starting protesting as news of their forced conversion to Hinduism came to public notice.

Judiciary to the Rescue:

Time and time again, when we were unable to sort out our communal differences by ourselves, the Indian judiciary had to intervene to prevent more bloodshed.

• In 2019, a five-judge bench in the Supreme Court gave the verdict regarding the communal disharmony which arose after the demolition of Babri masjid. The land is to be used for the construction of a temple and a separate land of five acres was given to Muslims elsewhere, to construct their mosque. Supreme Court termed the demolition of the Babri Mosque a criminal act. This verdict ended the long battle between Hindus and Muslims over their claim of land in Ayodhya.

• In 2018, the Supreme Court lifted the ban that prevented women in the age group from 10 to 50 from entering the Ayyappa shrine in Kerala, known as Sabrimala Case. Those who dissented from verdict have filed a review petition in the matter and is expected to be heard in the coming months. 

• In 2019, a petition was submitted in the Supreme Court to allow Muslim women enter mosques through the main gate and have access to ‘musalla’. This case is not yet closed.

• In 2017, the Supreme Court gave a verdict that any Parsi Women marrying outside the community had the right to enter her religious place as her identity is not changed by her marriage.

Time and again we had to move our petitions to the Judicial system for various Intra and inter-religious problems. We, the social beings, failed as we could not solve our religious disagreements by ourselves. We are influenced by political leaders and the so-called religious gurus. It’s high time we open the blindfold and see the reality. Power-hungry leaders play with our religious sentiments to stay in their position. We as responsible social beings should end our disputes amicably. Whenever we shed blood, get the judiciary involved we fail. Remember, if the eye for an eye is the answer, the entire world will turn blind in no time. Let peace and harmony prevail!! 

Disclaimer:-

The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Light de Literacy and LDL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.