Beyond Negative Trends

As we go to press, the news has come that the Supreme Court has deferred pronouncement of the Ayodhya verdict by the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. (The date fixed for the verdict was September 24.)

On a petition filed in the Apex Court seeking more time for bringing about an out-of-court negotiated settlement of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute between the contending parties, the two-judge SC Bench came out with a split verdict: one judge rejected the petition on the plea that the grounds on which the deferment was requested (that is, the prevailing situation in the country including the growing terrorist threat at the time of holding of the Commonwealth Games, worsening flood situation in north India, as well as the impending Bihar Assembly poll etc.) could not be entertained; however, the other judge held a different opinion, saying that (a) while there had been no success in arriving at an out-of-court settlement on the issue despite repeated efforts over the past six decades, even if there was one per cent possibility of such a settlement it must be explored, (b) the consequence of the verdict would have to be faced by the people at large and not the petitioners, and (c) if the Supreme Court does not give the opportunity to explore the possibilities of a negotiated out-of-court settlement even at this late stage it would be subsequently charged by the people with not having exerted its maximum to reach an amicable solution of the problem.

In view of the split verdict the Apex Court followed its time-honoured tradition that if one judge says there is no need to issue notice for further hearing and the other is in favour of issuing notice for further hearing it is the latter view which prevails; hence notices have been served to the petitioners and opponents for a further hearing in the matter on September 28. Significantly the Union Government has also been made a party to the dispute for the first time and notice is to be issue to it too to attend the hearing on that day; the Attorney-General of India is expected to be present at the hearing.

Although the situation in the country today is not in the least surcharged with the kind of tension one experienced (not just in Ayodhya but elsewhere too) at the time of BJP leader L.K. Advani’s rath yatra in 1990 or when the Babri Masjid was pulled down by Hindu communal fanatics on December 6, 1992, both the UP State Government and Union Government were not prepared to take any chances with regard to the fall-out of the verdict. While the Mayawati Ministry reinforced security in the State as a whole, and Ayodhya in particular, on the eve of the verdict (which was to have come on September 24), the Union Home Minister in a statement requested the people to stay calm and not go for a knee-jerk reaction whatever the nature of the verdict and instead carefully study the judgment in its entirety before responding to it in any manner. Against such a backdrop the SC decision to defer the verdict has come as a welcome development.

Meanwhile the country has been globally ashamed by the shoddy preparations for the Commonwealth Games in the Capital and there is allround uncertainty as to what will happen by the time the Games are scheduled to begin in early October. The collapse of a footbridge (built for the CWG) near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (the venue of the opening ceremony) the other day followed by the strong words used by the CWG officials and supervisors from the West over the state of the Games Village (where the participants are to stay) definitely tarnished India’s image and standing in the world regardless of how the local authorities and the Games’ Indian organisers are trying to minimise such “glitches”. The PM is reportedly embarrassed by such unforeseen events and has thus decided to downgrade the Indian organisers and empower a Group of Ministers headed by the Union Minister for Urban Development as the nodal agency to supervise the Games. Apart from the allegations of mega-size scams that have surfaced in connection with the Games, poor preparations have now hit the CWG. The PM’s efforts at this stage to salvage the Games are doubtless noteworthy, and one sincerely hopes these don’t turn out to be too little too late. Nonetheless, the undeniable fact is that the situation on this front appears to be quite grim given the growing number of countries that are either deciding not to participate in the CWG or expressing their reluctance to do so.

The visit of the all-party parliamentarians’ delegation to J&K appears to have been marked by some measure of success. The MPs were able to get a first-hand idea of the prevailing conditions in the Valley and reasons behind the public upsurge in which the paramilitary forces’ role cannot but be brought under the scanner given the sizeable number of casualties suffered by the people at large and the allround mass resentment the atrocities have caused especially among the womenfolk, something exceptional and rare even in such a highly disturbed and troubled State as Kashmir. At the same time hopefully the alienated citizens of the Valley have been able to comprehend the magnitude of concern about their welfare among the people’s represen-tatives from other parts of the country. As such an eminent scholar of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and keen observer of Kashmir affairs as Prof Amitabh Mattoo has perceptively opined:

There is an India beyond bunkers, security forces and corrupt politics; it is the vibrant India of entrepreneurs, professionals, civil society activists, the robust and free media, and the political delegation that visited the Valley. More and more Kashmiris must discover this India and build a coalition with it. That is the best guarantee against the other India which they witness in the Valley. (The Times of India, September 23)

Amidst all the complexities in national politics that frequently engender deep frustration in sensitive minds, especially in the wake of the dominance of negative trends, one occasionally discerns flashes of positive features that help one to sustain one’s abiding faith in the enduring vitality of Indian democracy.

September 23 S.C.