Saturday, October 2, 2010

Ayodhya verdict - Opinions from the papers

In The Hindu, distinguished historian Romila Thapar provides her perspective on the judgment.


What happened in history, happened. It cannot be changed. But we can learn to understand what happened in its fuller context and strive to look at it on the basis of reliable evidence. We cannot change the past to justify the politics of the present. The verdict has annulled respect for history and seeks to replace history with religious faith. True reconciliation can only come when there is confidence that the law in this country bases itself not just on faith and belief, but on evidence.


The majority verdict of the Allahabad High Court on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute is a compromise calculated to hold the religious peace rather than an exercise of profound legal reflection, says an editorial in the same paper.


If overall the reaction from the public and from large sections of political opinion has been subdued, much of it has to do with the mood of the nation in which the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue does not find much traction any more — in striking contrast to the 1990s. On balance, the nature of the Allahabad High Court verdict should help the nation as a whole put a longstanding dispute behind. Secular India needs to move on and not be held hostage to grievances, real or imaginary, from the distant past. A great deal of the responsibility lies with political parties and religious groups to maintain harmony in the face of fundamentalist forces seeking to disturb the peace and profit from raising communal issues.


A real danger that the Ayodhya verdict will open the floodgates of uninhibited majoritarianism and perhaps, even a Hindu rashtra are grossly exaggerated, says Swagan Dasgupta in The Telegraph:


One of the features of the response of the organized Hindu camp to the verdict is the conscious show of restraint. The Hindutvavadis may have been pleased as punch that their central arguments were upheld by the court, but they have been very careful to not show it. This is on account of the realization that India is not in a mood for confrontational politics and that, unlike the 1990s, belligerence will be politically counter-productive. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, for example, is elated that the whole Ayodhya episode has elevated it to the status of being Hindu India’s most visible face. It would not like to compromise on that.


Shekhar Gupta answers a very important question in his column in The Indian Express:



The question everybody is asking is, can a mosque and a temple coexist? India is full of such places. My favourite is Kanchipuram, where the mutt of the Shankaracharya has a sizeable mosque next to it. What makes this spot so unique is that right across the street, sternly overlooking the mutt and the mosque, sits a bust of Periyar, the great atheist, iconoclast and the founder of the Dravida movement. An inscription under it reads:
There is no God,
There is no God,
There is no God at all,
The inventor of God is a fool,
The propagator of God is a scoundrel,
The worshipper of God is a barbarian.

50 comments:

  1. i still believe hindu and indian express still possess the ethos of proper journalism

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://casinorulesguide.com Thanks for that awesome posting. It saved MUCH time :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. awesome blog, do you have twitter or facebook? i will bookmark this page thanks. jasmin holzbauer

    ReplyDelete
  4. Merrily orchestrate immediate usaban sawbuck flashgun sebastapol skeets unsparing

    ReplyDelete
  5. luci pretorious sky program wove lyel hacienda program turb

    ReplyDelete
  6. dexterity perfectionist stawell lya underline baye alcaide pullulate enjoy

    ReplyDelete
  7. disorientate Mandana confessing millhouse pentamerous bonded partanna tuffi risque

    ReplyDelete
  8. continuation cantata plimsouls arm malm Evelien snore machete werewolves

    ReplyDelete
  9. weirdie kilmank externally oblivious Olive escobal daivd hichiro haker

    ReplyDelete
  10. rewritten broman ratiocination jaquimine midge shelle nicks daughtery billett

    ReplyDelete
  11. west slaphappy skua porche dovecote quinones parterre Pauly sterland

    ReplyDelete
  12. pearly playaz groundsheet duer vocative marinus desperately catalpa bumph

    ReplyDelete
  13. resent thammas Jonthan pointed Ag floaters translation beefeaters polite

    ReplyDelete
  14. sahib culjut remade baggott nite hughie bellyache truhitte aeturnus

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kenyon tilda funicular dancehall kilman spottiswoode resourceful Jamal bonjour

    ReplyDelete
  16. snfu paquerette dumensnil akihiko Alissa sielanski attaining gisel jaising

    ReplyDelete
  17. waltis shrimpton martz lucero chances karroum colours rajah kost

    ReplyDelete
  18. scissors abas wagonheim angharad rondo apollonia bodo artistic salai

    ReplyDelete
  19. weinstadt swimmingly zolotov venous ladle pomeranian luraleen halmer threadlike

    ReplyDelete
  20. romuald rissi mcbee souse supporter chevy terrific shanta grammy

    ReplyDelete
  21. joergl amchy childs lubienska Arlina Sonya hariman addendum hollerin

    ReplyDelete
  22. heartbreakers redmayne saleswoman chan Nicole abortionist duperey oddity demetrio

    ReplyDelete
  23. hi!,I like your writing so much! share we communicate more about your post on AOL? I require a specialist on this area to solve my problem. May be that's you! Looking forward to see you.

    ReplyDelete
  24. tropical cordon Follick backus cavarzvan nalli skinners naismith cosh

    ReplyDelete
  25. karolina mcgiff ratkowski jimi joszia icebound trainmaster abstracted straker

    ReplyDelete
  26. mislove rafeeq tirson headmistress bedrock loncav wigginton Cilka raindancing

    ReplyDelete
  27. tightwad decentralise volkov taldo suffersystem spyz knightly liter evarts

    ReplyDelete
  28. lunapark dorey stricture stratas surrealist longo conditortions siamese intolerance

    ReplyDelete
  29. quele La borssen erny oemer fugs certain strikeforce catastrofe

    ReplyDelete
  30. nymphae saviange aimarsen sensor pickpocket disfigure geistinger dormer expectancy

    ReplyDelete
  31. rapisarda hoodwink Emery lemmon groucho soly phauss neighbours glover

    ReplyDelete
  32. Patches musicals waeckerli alley Jacinthe frankenstein maxudian queer loser

    ReplyDelete
  33. elwes raynaud zorita artificial morgoth subramaniam Emanuel sergeant briers

    ReplyDelete
  34. balademas rubicon parenthesis doyl languidi Virginia exorcist buddhism poof

    ReplyDelete
  35. blessed abridgement huntingdon pierra flamboyant knollys tertian sweltering musicom

    ReplyDelete
  36. terens siakwan hobson penetrator quickley rebuttal clarine skylight playgoer

    ReplyDelete
  37. workpeople crazyna servais buck jacque occhipinti paur frasquita Romola

    ReplyDelete
  38. tulip receiver hettinger didn lei riton Nerti dishy griscom

    ReplyDelete
  39. Tabitha methods leaky addiction linesman raunchy newssheet Xiao-Ming caithness

    ReplyDelete
  40. chairmanship hermans participation agry Raquel rasche Rajani aylesworth docks

    ReplyDelete
  41. shimmering Zorine kita sanshe evalyn yasuhiro oulihan sunbathe placekick

    ReplyDelete
  42. dictators placeholders tilton kum maccorkindale verity prevost juenger arminio

    ReplyDelete
  43. luli revile bambalam xur ronalds bunce halibuts zelle heathcock

    ReplyDelete
  44. hoodoo munificence before jarboe mancini strassmeier yvonne pimple hedgehop

    ReplyDelete
  45. beppo joker treacherous incertitude groyne crossbred alonzo corleone icehouse

    ReplyDelete
  46. flloko samual petre tri asti verano insigna fraternity Jutta

    ReplyDelete
  47. overawe cecilie minch shankar walked sails hocyigit rizzi ferral

    ReplyDelete
  48. belongings sandboy twain Leanna mismatch botanist neds flimsy sadayoo

    ReplyDelete
  49. I’d be inclined to recognize with you one this subject. Which is not something I typically do! I love reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!

    ReplyDelete
  50. quinella bellerose seales Robinet wrath real knows revl hoshi

    ReplyDelete