Ayodhya dispute: Why there could a light at the end of the tunnel
Just like a bad penny, the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute has reared its ugly head all over again.
Chief Justice of India JS Khehar has asked both the parties in the dispute to resolve their differences amicably outside court. And three days after the CJI's suggestion, the opinion within the minority community is still divided.
Zafaryab Jilani, convener of the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) and a lawyer for the board, initially ruled out a negotiated settlement on the grounds that it had been attempted in the past too (in 1991), but in vain. He was, of course, referring to the initiative undertaken by former prime minister Chandrashekhar, who had set up a high-powered committee comprising Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ashok Singhal, Syed Shahabuddin, Vijaya Raje Scindia among others, to hammer out a settlement.
The committee had the blessings of former prime minister and veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other senior leaders across political spectrum.
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| A Modi-led BJP government at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath's elevation as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh are also playing a big part in shaping the response of the Muslims to the issue. |
But the negotiations stalled without reaching a conclusion even as the Chandrashekhar government fell midway.
That was then, and this is now. India has changed and so have the geo-political realities around us.
The mindless confrontation that ultimately not only saw the demolition of the disputed structure, but also resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives.
The 1992 demolition stretched the social fabric of this country to its limit. The scars may have healed, but for all those who lived through those troubled times, it's an experience few of them would want to go through again.
A Modi-led BJP government at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath's elevation as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh are also playing a big part in shaping the response of the Muslims to the issue.
"The way forward is reconciliation, not confrontation, the safety and security of Muslims is the central issue, not the mosque," says a senior Muslim cleric who didn't wish to be named.
It's perhaps this realisation that is shaping opinion within the minority community over the CJI's suggestion to reach an amicable settlement.
Hardliners — from Ahmed Bukhari, the controversial Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid to Kamal Faruqui of All India Muslim Personal law Board, and members of Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind — believe that the time has come to give negotiations a chance, and turn the situation into an opportunity.
"We owe it to the country and to ourselves to give the CJI's suggestion a chance to succeed," says Kamal Faruqui.
Ahmed Bukhari, who has built a reputation for igniting passions and adopting a hardline posture on all such issues, too is singing a different tune this time around.
"Let the CJI mediate. If it helps bring about a just and amicable settlement, why should we oppose this," says Bukhari.
Although these are early days, the signs are encouraging. The working committee of the Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind will meet in Delhi next week to adopt a formal position on the issue. One of the proposals that appears to be engaging the mind of the minority leaders is that all sides should withdraw their appeal against the Allahabad High Court judgment, with a condition that that no claims will be made on any other disputed sites.
Not everybody, however, is in favour of a negotiated settlement.
Arshad Madani-led faction of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind believes "the courts must decide".
Be that as it may, the signs are encouraging.
It's now for the government to create the right political environment for a compromise to be reached. For a dispute that has defied a solution for ages, there may yet be a light at the end of the tunnel.