((Sept 30 2010)) While the cursory attempt of the Court to reconcile this dispute by dividing the land threeways may be welcome, a disturbing question remains. ...What was being decided here was the civil dispute over land ownership alone--not matters of faith-- while the two criminal cases over the illegal and unConstitutional demolition of the Babri Mosque on 6.12.1992, in full public view, provoked by political and religious leaders are still pending. How have the Judges justified their silence on the criminal acts of 1992, acts that were bloody as they cost human lives apart from wilfully destorying a Mosque and 1949?? What will the impact of this verdict be on what were clearly and blatantly a violent and illegal act?Related to this is the critical question, can and should Courts adjudicate on matters of faith? I recall Baba Laldas' interviews in Raam Ke Naam, a film by Anand Patwardhan when he analysed the motives behind the movement, the kind of violence that led up to 6.1.2.1992. He was mysteriously killed in 1993...He was the Court appointed iMahant who's bodyguard was removed by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh...His suspicious death has also gone judicially unaddressed...The Judgement has given legal sanction to a brazenly barbaric politics of majoritarianism. Teesta Setalvad, Mumbai
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone -----Original Message----- From: Lollyramu Ramdas <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 15:17:20 To: <[email protected]>; NILOFER BHAGWAT<[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Cc: gajendra singh<[email protected]> Subject: Re: [humanrights-movement:3016] The implications of the three Judge Judgment -emergence of a religioustheocracy Nilu, Brilliantly said - and you articulate well the troubled reactions and feelings of so many of us - the `other' minority who have a different identity - for which it is not easy to find a name! Lolly On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 2:34 PM, Niloufer Bhagwat <[email protected]>wrote: > > *The Institutions of the State in India in the first decade of the 21st > Century * > * - the Road to Theocracy.* > > Yesterday the roads of Mumbai were deserted by afternoon and taxis stayed > off > the road in the evening with memories of the events of December 92 and > January > 93 as most people were aware that a Judgment was to be delivered and that > two > mainstream political parties and one regional party had made their > electoral fortunes > on the issue ably assisted by financiers and hawala money , however if > bombs > were thrown .Unknown to them the much maligned Commonwealth Games came > to their rescue and the alleged "Jehadi terrorists" the " Jamaat- e- > Islami" > and Hurriyat having overwhelming respect for the head of the Commonwealth > their Mai /Baap are now awaiting the end of the games at the request of > the political > leadership of various mainstream parties conveyed through the > Anti-terrorist squads > and so are the Saffron terrorists who owe the beginnings to the British > Raj and cannot > therefore insult the Commonwealth . This kind of loyalty with offerings > from the > national budget and banking industry even for take over of companies in > England > of doubtful financial viability , is not to be seen in the annals of the > British Empire . > Some intellectuals seriously believe that we were hanging from the trees > before > Britannia ruled the waves and that the establishment of the railways was > not for > better exploitation but an act of generosity of Imperial rule . > > Even as a few lawyers were awaiting the Judgment with as much interest > as they take daily in the visuals of the Stock market in the Bar > Association which > keeps them upto date not in respect of jurisprudence but on > speculation every hour of > the working day one of them reflected and said to me " I can > immediately recognize > anyone who is a Dalit or a backward class from his face ". Astounded I > reflected on this > much traveled lawyer and how he had managed his entry into the first > decade > of the 21st Century .Even as I moved away horrified by this remark which > reeked of > the ideology of upper caste "unsociability" which we imagined had been > eradicated in India he jumped up and said " The Hindus have succeeded ". > > Much later that night one understood that whereas the disputed plot had > been evenly divided between three claimants , this had been done not on > the basis of law by the three Judges ;there was no law in the reasons > advanced > by one of the three Judges for this distribution and not even a hint at law > or as to > why these claims were valid after the lapse of decades if not centuries > with > conclusions of the Learned Judges going back at least two thousand and > seven > hundred years ago in a mix of myth , legend and a few facts ;thereafter > arriving > in the 16th Century and then referring to excavations on the site again > hundreds of > years ago ; still forward to the years before 1857 and then 1949. > > Who was right ?The Supreme Court and the High Courts were dismissing > claims > barred by the law of limitation . In certain cases even six months delay in > filling > a Writ Petition had barred a vital Petition invoking constitutional > grounds , but in > these three Judges of the Allahabad High Court , we had 'Daniels' arriving > at a > Judgment . > > It was left to former Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar with his few remarks > despite > serious obstructions from the anchor to convey that there was neither law > nor > logic in the decisions . > > If not law or logic what was the reasoning based on in all three Judgments > ? > The constraints of a reactionary theocracy , we like Pakistan under the > auspices > of neoliberal economic policies of International Capital had evolved into > > a reactionary theocracy . Another institution of governance stood exposed > which had not relied on law but on religious faith and beliefs . > > The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas and what we were doing appeared > strangely similar . > > Arundhatti Roy hasproved to be right .It was not she who is a romanticist > but those of us like myself , who still believed that we had who had taken > a different path in 1947 how could we once again fragment as a society > after > the grim lessons of partition and the assassination of the father of the > Nation ? > Whereas she had already pronounced judgment as to what we had become, > even as South Asia is targeted for restructuring and fragmentation > on the basis of tribe and religion even as drones fly over the region . > > The silver lining is that if stones and pillars found on a site dating > back hundreds of years ago is evidence and that faith is the basis > of title, the tribal people who are in actual possession of their land > and the peasantry and other working people cannot be evicted by any > Court , as itis their faith and conviction supported by occupation from > time > immemorial that they have the first right of livelihood over their > land as against Multinational Companies Indian or foreign . > > The Court has implicitly upheld the consequence of violent acts > reinforcing the view of some formations in India in the Eastern > and Central Regions that violence is being sanctioned by the > institutions of the State siezing their land in favour of private > interests and that they are defending themselves . > > The question remains why have successive governments not > notified the impugned disputed land for land acquisition when it had > disturbedthe peace and the claim of every single party in all title > suits > had lapsed on account of limitation on one ground or another ; whereas > land being cultivated has been forcibly seized in various parts of the > country with whole villages evacuated with physical force to > subserve private interests ?????? > > One more institution of the State has revealed that we have become > a reactionary theocratic state with the Constitution of India flouted > even by those who have sworn to uphold it . > > It is not the three way division of the plot which is the cause > for anxiety but the reasons advanced for the Judgment reflecting > the erosion of India 's Republic , the Constitution of India and > the objectives of the Indian Freedom struggle for Independence. > > The destruction of justice and a legal system logically leads > to adoption of extra constitutional means of redressal. . > > This is what Arundhatti Roy recognized before we > did . > > Niloufer Bhagwat > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "humanrights movement" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > . > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<humanrights-movement%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en. > -- Ramu and Lalita Ramdas `Lara' - Ramu Farm Bhaimala Village P.O.Kamarle, Alibag 402201 Raigad Dist, Maharashtra, INDIA Phone: 0091-2141-248711 Fax: 0091-2141-248733 Cell: [L] 0 9422495315 Cell: [R] 0 9860170969 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
