It’s high time to chalk out the future course of action based on the Liberhan Commission Report. The need of the hour is to formulate and mobilize public opinion, form pressure group and lobby for speedy implementation of punishing those found guilty in the report. Those found guilty be given exemplary punishment, so that such act never gets repeated in our country.
Will this ever happen? Given the history of such fact finding commissions, the general summery is political compulsions may never allow action to be taken on the basis of such reports submitted to the government. So it’s a foregone conclusion that Liberhan report will follow the same course. Do we want this to happen or cry from the roof top Awake India (Bharat Jago Re)
What justice Liberhan has done in his 16 yrs of painstaking work is to collect evidences of those responsible for the demolition of the 16 century Babari masjid in Ayodhya. Now the onus lies on the government to punish those mentioned by him as responsible for the criminal act.
Was this a criminal act? To a neutral person there is little doubt that by any standard of law, the act of the demolition of the mosque was an unpardonable crime, and those involved in this act should be brought to justice and be summarily punished.
However in this particular case, this act is touted not as a crime but as a matter of "Faith," an act of "Nationalism." Now how to resolve this puzzle of crime, that’s laced in the name of faith and nationalism. Who will adjudicate in this matter and who will adhere to its judgment?
Some BJP leaders have publicly owned the responsibility of the demolition of the mosque and have challenged the government of the day “dare punish them.” Obviously they are drawing their strength from the streets, as they are hope their sagging political fortunes would get a new lease of life. They know, if the government tries to implement the report and prosecute them, it’s an opportunity to them by default to bounce back to the center stage of politics in India.
So the government of the day is caught in a catch 22 situation. If it implements the Liberhan report, there will be political backlash and fear of the revival of Hindu nationalistic politics in this country. On the other, if it decides to sleep over the report and do not muster strength to punish the perpetrators of the crime, it will be an act of the travesty of justice. The government will be blamed playing with the sentiments of the Muslims, whose hopes are tied with the judicial system in the country.
The moral dilemma of the government is well understood. However one needs to be clear that when it comes to take a stand on moral issues, there is no ambiguity in it. A crime is a crime, a criminal is a criminal, and such people ought to be brought to justice. After that it’s the job the judiciary to fix the quantum of punishment. Anything less then that would be demeaning the Indian nationhood.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com