Babri Masjid, Saffronized India and the Concerns

India has always been an upper caste Hindu state: Zamir Akram

The
recent Indian Supreme Court verdict on Babri Mosque must not be seen in
isolation, rather by keeping in view the bigger picture. The change in J&K
status and new citizenship law reiterate that Indian secularism is merely a
ploy for political gains. The real face of India is one with a vigorous
presence of RSS for the past 70 years, which is gaining more power under the
present regime, and this is a sign of things to come.

The
message emerged out of the seminar titled ‘Babri Masjid, Saffronized India and
the Concerns’, which was organized by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS),
Islamabad on December 17, 2019. The session was addressed by Ambassador (r)
Zamir Akram, Pakistan’s former permanent representative to the UN, Dr Mujeeb
Afzal, professor, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Amir Abdullah Abbasi,
Advocate High Court, and Khalid Rahman, Executive President, IPS.

Reflecting
on the current situation in India, Zamir Akram said that the Babri Mosque
verdict was another proof how the rise of Hindu nationalism was affecting the
country. The verdict has set the precedence for RSS Hindutva hardliners to
pursue more such issues for which they have already exhibited their intent
publicly. The formation of RSS in the early twentieth century was based on
Hindu nationalist ideology and the organization very much forms the core of
BJP. The Babri mosque issue was politicized by BJP back in 1996 as well when it
became the largest party in the Lok Sabha. The Indian government was in a
position to stop the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992 as police and
paramilitary forces were standing by, but they did not intervene out of fear of
antagonizing Hindus, choosing rather to succumb to the pressure put on by
aggressive RSS goons.

The
former ambassador said that the Indian secularism conceived by Gandhi and Nehru
was actually a political necessity as it was the only way to hold a diverse
country of such huge size together. The reality ever since has been quite
different. Where its constitution calls India a social secular republic, the
country has only been functioning as an upper cast Hindu state. That bubble is
now starting to burst and beginning to expose the hypocrisy that lies
underneath.

Zamir
Akram added that the Hindutva hysteria is only expected to grow in the near
future. Modi will keep building on his Hindutva mythology as he has nothing
much to show for his tenure. India has been fudging growth and other figures
for political gains but in reality the country is slowly entering into a period
of economic difficulty. Pakistan must have no ambiguities or illusions in
understanding the Indian designs for targeting the Muslims as well as Pakistan
itself. The Indian army has already started speaking in the language of
Hindutva, and Pakistan must remain prepared to answer an increasingly hostile
neighbor at its borders, he added.

Dr
Mujeeb Afzal echoed Zamir Akram’s viewpoint, stating that RSS continues to dictate
BJP even today as every general secretary of the party from the district level
to the center is being nominated by the extremist organization. The present
phase in India is turning its self-proclaimed secularism to Hindu
majoritarianism, and this is amply reflected in their electoral rolls where
about 70-80% of the elected candidates belong to the Hindu elites. The
overwhelming diversity in India is also a cause for fear for the Hindu elite,
he said.

Amir
Abbasi earlier delivered an analysis of Babri mosque case from a legal
perspective. Presenting a brief history of the mosque starting from 1528, he
first gave insights on how the controversy began, before covering different
stages of the legal battle as well as the points raised over the issue from both
sides. The advocate also highlighted several glaring contradictions and
loopholes in the judgement passed by the Supreme Court of India, maintaining
that the case has exposed the true fabric of Indian politics, effectively
validating the two-nation theory in the process.

Khalid
Rahman, while concluding the session, maintained that what is happening in
India today presents an opportunity to devise and practice proactive diplomatic
strategy. He said that one must not forget that we are living an era of bad
global governance, where decisions are not made following any rules or
principles but on the basis of national interests. There still persists a lot
of talk on paper about international laws as well as morals, ethical and
humanitarian values, which is something that needs be exploited in our
strategies effectively. If the strategy is compelling enough to reshape the
global public opinion in favor of actual values by overpowering economic
interests, then the public opinion does have a potential to influence the
decision-making of its state.

He
added that the recent actions taken by the Indian government over J&K
status, Babri mosque and the citizenship law have attracted much more attention
from the international community than ever before. This situation offers an
opportunity to induce even more global interest by devising well thought out
strategies and taking proactive measures, he said.