By Invitation Can India call itself a secular nation? By Madhav Godbole
As for operationalisation of secularism, another reality is that over years, the police have not only been politicised but also communalised. The adverse effects of this in upholding the rule of law and safeguarding secularism, which is part of the basic
With the recent Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya, the way to construction of a Ram temple has been cleared. The Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid (RJB-BM) dispute had occupied an overwhelming space in India’s political life since Independence. Among the top leaders at the time, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was the only one who foresaw what was in store, but was clearly helpless in prevailing on the Uttar Pradesh government to take prompt action to remove the Ram Lalla idols, clandestinely kept in the Babri mosque on the night of 22-23 December 1949. What happened thereafter is a part of modern India’s tumultuous history, one which should never be forgotten, if history is not to be repeated.
Even during the heyday of the Congress party, Nehru was disturbed that rightist forces were getting strengthened within the party, but could not act beyond a point for fear that a large section of Congressmen would leave the party. In his address to Indian Foreign Service officers, Nehru had said the real danger to India was not from the Communists, but from the rightist forces. Nehru had strongly endorsed the resolution moved by Ananthasayanam Ayyangar in the Constituent Assembly in 1948 for separation of religion from politics. This resolution, adopted almost unanimously, even before the adoption of the Constitution, has never been implemented in over 70 years.
Founding fathers of the Constitution failed to make a suitable provision in the Constitution which was then under discussion. Second, it was only during the time of Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi that the ruling political party had a two-thirds majority in Parliament and Congress party governments were in power in more than half the states. A Constitution amendment to separate religion from politics could have therefore been easily passed during these years, but these three stalwarts of the Nehru-Gandhi family failed to take any action. This speaks volumes of their commitment to secularism. In an important sense, this has set the course of India’s history. It also brings out the extent to which India can be expected to go in implementing secularism.
As for operationalisation of secularism, another reality is that over years, the police have not only been politicised but also communalised. The adverse effects of this in upholding the rule of law and safeguarding secularism, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution, are horrendous. Just two examples suffice to show what is at stake. In the shocking antiSikh riots in Delhi in 1984, Delhi Police were not just mute spectators of ghastly atrocities against innocent Sikhs, but encouraged and even participated in perpetrating the heinous crimes. Though decades have passed, none of those policemen has been held responsible.
During the demolition of the Babri Masjid, kar sevaks (Hindu activists) raised highly provocative slogans. The Liberhan Commission of Inquiry brought out that one of the slogans was ‘badi khushi ki baat hai, police hamare saath hai’ (we are so happy, the police are with us). The Commission stated that ‘the police and the administration were executors of the designs of the RSS, VHP, BJP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, etc.’. The Commission observed, ‘(When kar sevaks stormed the disputed structure) the police deployed at the spot gave their canes and shields to kar sevaks, who brandished them openly.
L.K. Advani, BJP leader and former deputy prime minister who spearheaded the agitation, narrated in his autobiography, My Country, My Life, his conversation with a senior police inspector, when on his way back from Ayodhya to Lucknow after demolition of the Babri Masjid. The inspector asked him, ‘Advaniji, Kuch bacha to nahin na? Bilkul saaf kar diya na?’ (Hope nothing of the structure has survived and it has been totally razed?)
Conduct of the police in other major communal conflagrations, such as Mumbai before and after the Babri Masjid demolition, Gujarat riots in 2002, and several other places since then is equally shocking. With the machinery for upholding the rule of law subverted in this manner, what protection can minorities and other weaker and neglected sections of society expect? Can India call itself a secular nation?