Democracy is not simply about the will of people. Justify the statement in light of recent claims made on mosques in the name of historical injustice (200 words)
Refer – Live Mint
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 2 years
KEY POINTS
· In 1990s, Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid became the focus of a movement.
· This has flipped the public views and allowed majoritarian politics to gain public favour.
· Now Lawsuits land up in Indian courts challenge the status of mosques like the Gyanvapi Masjid in Banaras and Shahi Idgah in Mathura on the argument that they were once temples.
· Recent years have seen several states enact laws that curtail basic freedoms—to marry whoever one wants or adopt another faith—in the name of defending the majority from shadowy foes of “love jihad" and demographic aggression.
· In all these cases democracies risk tipping over into majoritarian excess. The society mobilize in ways that flout its essential values. The history of our neighbourhood is scattered with such examples.
· Countries that chose to stake their future on a single identity, defined by religion or language, and exclude anything that did not fit in inevitably found social strife catching up with them.
· New claims on mosque sites have set the stage for another test.
· Claims on mosques in the name of historical injustice and the Indian majority’s will violate basic Constitutional freedoms. It’s for the judiciary to draw a line and uphold those values.
· Judiciary must make it clear that injustices of history cannot be used to undo the present, no matter what popular sentiments are primed for.
· It must strongly uphold Places of Worship Act, 1991, by which all other such sites must retain the religious character they had on 15 August 1947.
· If the equality of all faiths was this law’s guiding principle, the need to prevent the past from raking up discord was its pragmatic rationale.
· Democracy is not only about what people want. It is founded on a set of non-negotiables.
