DNA Edit: A path to peace

The affidavit filed by the Shia board in the much-disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case is welcome. The Shia board has petitioned the Supreme Court that the mosque can be constructed at a reasonable distance from the disputed land. This is a never-before conciliatory step in an episode that has marked Indian history with searing sectarian violence. The other parties involved in the litigation would do well to explore an amicable resolution immanent in this proposal. For far too long, the issue of Ram Janmabhoomi has been a poll plank on which many a political career has been made and governments have been secured. Religious bloodshed has followed these political resistances like clockwork. Now is the opportunity to relegate those incidents to the past and take giant strides towards a peaceful future.

However, the Shia board’s pacifying efforts will have to match up to the adversarial atmospherics of the Sunni Wakf board. In its affidavit, the Shia Wakf board has cautioned the apex court against the Sunni board, arguing that it is under the authoritative influence of hardliners, fanatics and non-believers who do not subscribe to the path of peaceful coexistence. The Shia board has argued that the Sunni board has no stake in the case; that it is the Shia board which has a claim over the Babri Masjid site; that it is the sole body entitled to hold negotiations. If Shia board’s argument is accepted, millions of Indians across the religious spectrum would heave a sigh of relief, and be thankful that the frenzied chapter has come to an end.

August 9, was also the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement. It is as if history has presented us with an opportune moment to unite against the forces of poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy, as PM Modi mentioned in his address to the Lok Sabha. While the idealism is commendable, India and Indians are far from the land promised by the champions of our Constitution. India’s unity is undermined by  caste, culture and culinary habits. Each community now is an island; each man a flag-bearer of a million mutinies. Heed, we must, PM Modi’s call to inspire the country into positive action for the next five years. Today’s India needs a revival of the Gandhian sentiment that stood for non-violent defiance, binding citizens in their fight against the British. Our enemy now is not an alien civilisation but the rot of corruption. In the light of the Quit India movement, we must prepare ourselves to battle it with all our might.