Friday, October 01, 2010

The Allahabad High Court Ayodhya Verdict

All links from Outlook The Three Way Divide. There are some confusing statements with potential for future controversies:
"Justice Dharam Veer Sharma: The disputed building was constructed by Babar, the year is not certain but it was built against the tenets of Islam. Thus, it cannot have the character of a mosque."

Ayodhya Verdict: Commentaries by Ramachandra Guha and others. From Pratap Bhanu Mehta's article:

"And if issues of faith are reopened, it will polarise society once again.

The acknowledgement that this site be regarded for this purpose as the birthplace of Ram is, if anything, an attempt to de-politicise religion. Our standard distinctions between faith and reason, between myth and history, do injustice to what the court had to grapple here. Whether Ram is an artefact of faith or reason, of myth or history, eternal or contingent, real or non-existent, can be debated. But the court seems to recognise that that discussion cannot simply wish away the forms of self-consciousness that have characterised Indian society. Edmund Burke once said, rightly, that religious wars can be incited by denying religion altogether. The court seems to accommodate its claims, without jeopardising the secular character of the state. This will not satisfy purists. But it is not an implausible way of strengthening secularism."

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