The Mockery of Places of Worship Act 1991
If Mohan Bhagwat has said that finding a Shiva temple under every mosque is wrong, then who are the people behind the recent cases of Gyanvapi, Mathura, Bhojshala of Banaras and Sambhal and Ajmer Sharif?
[AI generated image used here for representation]
On 24 October 1989, during the Ramshila Puja procession in Bhagalpur, riots started which soon spread to almost the entire Bhagalpur Commissionerate. During the riots, an attempt was made to destroy the places of worship and homes of the people of the minority community in more than three hundred villages. And after demolishing their places of worship, we saw with our own eyes, the words Ramji’s temple, Durga’s temple, Hanumanji’s temple written on the debris with black tar or red ochre.
Thirty years later, it seemed that the existence of every Muslim living in India is in danger along with their places of worship.
We have spoken about the Bhagalpur riots wherever we got the opportunity to speak. And wherever our articles were published, it is written there too that “Communalism will remain the central point of the Indian politics for the next fifty years. And everyday issues will become secondary.” It has been thirty-five years since this happened today.
On 13 September 1991, the then Home Minister Shankarrao Chavan in the government of Prime Minister Narasimha Rao presented a bill in the Parliament to pass a law regarding places of worship. This law was passed on 18 September 1991.
According to this law, any change in the religious identity of any place of worship in the country which was established before 15 August 1947 is prohibited. And the person doing so will be sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined.
The only reason for making this provision was to maintain peace and harmony among the people of all religions living in the country. Because, the dispute over Babri Masjid had been going on for the last 40 years. Due to this, riots have also taken place after tension arose in Bhagalpur, Gujarat and various places of the country.
Therefore, a provision of three years imprisonment and fine to the person creating controversy over these places of worship had been made in the resolution passed in the Parliament in 1991. And even though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has succeeded in coming to power at the centre due to the Babri Masjid dispute, it has not amended this law yet.
While the 1991 law is in place, the lower courts registered cases of Gyanvapi of Banaras, Mathura, Bhojshala of Dhar in Madhya Pradesh and the latest disputes of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, and has even given verdicts to conduct an ASI survey.
Is this not a violation of the 1991 law?
And instead of punishing the person who did this, our courts are accepting the cases presented and giving very surprising verdicts on it.
The only reason for this is that after hundred years of propaganda by the RSS, many people in our judicial process, police and various walks of life are responsible for hatred against the minority communities. That is why they are daring to register cases while ignoring the 1991 Places ofWorship Act.
On the other hand, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat has said:
“It is wrong to find a Shiva temple under every mosque in our country!”
Despite Bhagwat's assertions, who are the people raising the cases of Gyanvapi, Bhojshala, Mathura, Sambhal and Ajmer Sharif?
And who are the people who have registered these cases?
Similarly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also called the people involved in mob lynching regarding cow slaughter as “a gang of extortion goons.”
But what action was taken against the people who killed Akhlaq and Junaid in mob lynching in Uttar Pradesh?
Instead, some people belonging to the RSS asked PM Modi to take back his statement!
Also, Mahatma Gandhi’s name is included among those who do morning prayers for the Sangh. But who are those people who call Mahatma Gandhi’s murder as slaughter, shoot his photos even today, and speak in a language below the belt about him?
If Mohan Bhagwat has said that finding a Shiva temple under every mosque is wrong, then who are the people behind the recent cases of Gyanvapi, Mathura, Bhojshala of Banaras and Sambhal and Ajmer Sharif?
Who are the people giving them a hype?
The hypocrisy and double-faced language of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has been going on since its inception.
This is part of their war strategy.
What has been the role of the Sangh volunteers in the riots from Bhagalpur to Gujarat? This has now come to light.
Many people have praised Mohan Bhagwat for saying that finding a Shiva temple under every mosque is wrong. So my request to Mohan Bhagwat is:
“If he wants, he can immediately stop the ongoing controversies of Gyanvapi, Mathura, Bhojshala, Sambhal and Ajmer Sharif. Because the people with mischievous minds who do this are also his own.”
Justice Madan, who investigated the Jalgaon-Bhiwandi riots of Maharashtra in the 70s, has clearly written in his report:
“Whether the people of the Sangh were involved in any riot or not is a different matter. But what the Sangh tries to teach its volunteers in the daily shakhas through its intellectual games, gitos, works to create hatred against the minority communities."
Therefore, according to the Indian Penal Code, it does not matter whether the members of the Sangh were directly involved in any riot or not. The propaganda that the RSS does in its daily shakhas, ultimately bursts out and finds expression in the riots.
The RSS has a lot of objections about the partition that happened 77 years ago and keeps on harping on the issue of Akhand Bharat. Even the map of India that the Sangh has includes present Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Afghanistan.
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia has also imagined a federation of India. But for that, all the people living in this region will have to live in an atmosphere of mutual trust, love and brotherhood.
Nor will it happen by creating riots like Sambhal, Gujarat or Bhagalpur, and by making allegations and counter-allegations like temple-mosques, cow slaughter, love jihad, land jihad, vote jihad?
Is the Sangh taking any initiative to resolve the current disputes in India - from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Nagaland to Okha?
Or is this happening because of the Vivekanand Kendra, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram or various units of the Sangh behind these disputes?
If you look inside yourself even this much, it will be of great help in the journey towards Akhand Bharat!
[The writer, Dr Suresh Khairnar, is Ex. President of Rashtra Sewa Dal]
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