... After more than ten years of militancy, during which thousands of Kashmiris have been killed or displaced, there is now growing evidence that the Centre has finally realised the need for articulating a serious and well-thought-out Kashmir policy. The new initiatives will, however, flounder - like so many others in the past – if New Delhi demonstrates the same lack of sensitivity, subtlety, imagination and foresight ...
Indeed, there are several axioms .... that must guide any enlightened move to bring back peace and normalcy ...
First, Kashmir is unique, and must be dealt with specially. Jammu and Kashmir's uniqueness is obvious for a variety of historical reasons recognised even by the Supreme Court, but its singular importance to the very. idea of India is often forgotten. A Muslim majority state that ... acceded to India in 1947 lent tremendous strength to the construction of India as a vibrant, secular and pluralistic state. The battle, therefore, to win back the hearts and minds of the Kashmiri people is critical not just for the recovery of the ideals that inspired Indian nationhood, but central to the war against obscurantism and fundamentalism ...
Second, autonomy must not be viewed as a dirty word, and an "autonomous" Kashmir could become a model of cooperative federalism ... Autonomy is synonymous with devolution or decentralisation of power ... Even if Article 370 is restored to its pre-1952 shape, it is still possible to strike a harmonious balance between the need to integrate Jammu and Kashmir within. the national mainstream, and the state's demand for autonomous self-governance ...
Third, the admission of mistakes is the first step towards restoring trust between New Delhi and Kashmir. Over the years, the Centre has made a number of appalling mistakes in Kashmir. Several elections have been rigged, genuinely elected governments have been dismissed, puppet-leaders have been installed, and - in the last decade - the ordinary Kashmiri has faced tremendous harassment from security forces. Some of these mistakes were avoidable, others inevitable given the complex situation on the ground. Admission of these mistakes will not be construed as an expression of guilt, but will signal a recognition that fresh initiatives towards Kashmir will be based on an awareness of past mistakes and a genuine desire not to see them repeated.
Fourth, the recovery of Kashmiriyat is vital to sustained peace. While there does seem to be a genuine, all-pervasive, desire within the state to recover the social capital lost in the last decade, and to restore Kashimir's traditional society based on ideas of peaceful coexistence and the common syncretic identity of Kashmiriyat, the Centre must make the recovery of this ethos central to its efforts to build peace in the state. It is essential, therefore, to ensure that there is no division of the statc, and especially not along communal lines. Ensuring the return of the Kashmiri pandits is ... also vital for the resuscitation of Kashmiriyat.
Fifth, ordinary Kashmiris must be viewed as neither militants nor separatists nor even as being enamoured by Pakistan. In Kashmir today, there is an overwhelming sentiment against violence, irrespective of its origin.Militancy may not be down and out, but it has lost a great deal of popular legitimacy. Indeed, there is virtually on enthusiasm or sympathy for the foreign militants ...
Similarly, there is an equally strong disillusionment with Pakistan. The political and social conditions prevailing within Pakistan have not gone unnoticed in the valley. The near total absence of a civil society, the deep ethnic conflict in Sindh and other areas, and the almost Orwellian control that is exercised in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has gradually left a deep impression on the Kashmiris. The coup by General Pervez Musharraf bas strengthened the growing feeling in Kashmir that country whose commitment to democracy is so weak imperfect can hardly be a real supporter of the democrats aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sixth, a dialogue between the Centre and the Kashmiris should be as inclusive as possible, and no group or individual must be considered untouchable ... Eve militants, who are willing to give up arms and eschew violence, should be given a place at the negotiating table,as must representatives from minorities and different regions of the state.
Finally, a dialogue must not be for merely buying time or for transferring power to a new leadership, but for arriving at a modus vivendi that can ensure long-term peace in the state. It is essential, therefore, that this dialogue is carried (out) by a specially constituted negotiating team that has the backing of the top political leadership of the country ... (Source: The Times of India, 13 June, 2000} [Amitab Mattoo is a Professor in JNU]
I would certainly like to talk to the (Indian) Prime Minister. And we will be very open, very frank and very flexible, very practical, very realistic, but it is the Kashmir dispute which we have to address. - Gen. Pervez Musharraf
The BMMCC, therefore, demands that the proposed Yatra should be banned immediately by the Rajasthan and UP Governments."
Views of P.M. Atal Behari Vajpayee On Babari Masjid
Ques: What is your current stand on the Babari Masjid issue. Are you going to allow VHP, Bajrang Dal and other associates to go ahead with the temple construction?
Ans: The case is in the courts. The law will decide the Issue. (Source: The India Today, 5 June, 2000)
On Ex-PM N. Rao's Role in Demolition
Prafull Goradia's Letter in The Indian Express
Please refer to the report "Babari: Cabinet Secretary Contradicted" (IE, 15 June) and the mention therein of the demolition of the Babari Masjid. At 5.45 pm on December 6, 1992. it was dark and the kar sevaks had begun to disperse from Ayodhya. The Kalyan Singh ministry had been dismissed and President's rule had been imposed. All of the next day the government provided free bus service for the sevaks to reach the railway station.
The 10 tall, thick walls of the Masjid were standing On the 6" only the three domes or gumbads had collapsed. A self-proclaimed secular government could have replaced the domes. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao promised to rebuild the mosque in his speech on Doordarshan at 10 pm the same evening. Instcad, someone demolished all the walls and cleared the rubble over the following 60 hours. By the morning of the 9t, a flat-roofed temple had been built and the idol of Ram Lalla installed. Its photographs, also showing a flag on the roof, were widely published in the dailies on the 10t. No earlier pictures of the walls without the domes appear to have been seen.
Whoever undertook the demolition and the replacement had to be resourceful and backed by authority. The only government was that of the governor under the direct rule of the Centre. Would not the episode seem different to the Justice M.S. Liberhan Commission after reading this. (Source: The Indian Express, 17 June, 2000)
Shahabuddin's Response, 17 June, 2000
I appreciate your letter on the Babari Masjid demolition in the Indian Express of 17 June, 2000.
In fact, I have always, verbally and in writing, held Prime Minister Narasimha Rao as much, if not more responsible, for the demolition of the Masjid and any basic evidence has always been that the demolition was completed, the debris were levelled and the Ram idols were reinstalled (though some people question their originality) and the make-shift temple was created after UP had been placed under President's rule. All the time Mr. Rao was promising to rebuild the MASJID!
Ayodhya's Islamic Past
Shahabuddin's Letter to The Organiser, 23 May, 2000
Apropos Shri Rohit Chowdary's letter "Babari Structure" (28 May, 2000) may I clarify that Babar did not take Delhi or Ayodhya from the hands of any Hindu ruler but from the Turco-Afghans who had been invading India since the 11th Century and had established their rule since 1200 AD. After the defeat of the Kingdom of Kanauj in 1192, Ayodhya passed into Muslim hańds. So the Muslim presence in Ayodhya dated at least since 1192 i.e. for 324 years before Babar appeared on the scene.
During this period and even earlier Ayodhya had developed as a Centre of Islamic iearning and mysticism and many Sufi saints are reported have lived in Ayodhya. There was thus a large Muslim population to justify the construction of a Masjid in the central part of the town.
Most of the temples and shrines that exist in Ayodhya today, on the other hand, are of much later vintage. Most of them came into existence in the 17th and 18th Century, when the Ram Cult gained many worshippers after the great saint and poet Tulsidas popularised the Ramayana in Awadhi.
The controversy over the Babari Masjid, as having been built on the site of a pre-existing Ram Temple after demolishing the latter, also dates only from the 18th Century. There is no record of any such claim before that.
The Organiser on Demolition of Temples
So long, cold and deliberate has been the humiliation that it needs a positive gesture, a healing touch from the Muslim community. Unless we are frank and are prepared to face the hard facts, we are going to solve nothing. We would then be condemned to co-exist indefinitely in the uncertain tension between the Hindu. and Muslim communities. (Source: The Organiser, 4 June, 2000)
Panigrahi Judgement Exceeds Judicial Limits
Shahabuddin's Letter to The Hindu, 19 June, 2000
Apropos your editorial "From Shah Bano to Shakila" (19 June, 2000), the higher judiciary has the constitutional prerogative to interpret a law but not to ignore the very object and purpose of the law when it was enacted. The judiciary should not legislate. The Panigrahi judgement has exceeded all limits of judicial activism and taken us back to the position that existed at the time of Chandrachud's judgement in the Shah Bano case. The fact is that the yery purpose, rightly or wrongly, of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Dirvorce) Act, 1986, was to nullify the Chandrachud judgement which was not only based on a fallacious interpretation of the Holy Quran but was legally flawed, because it ignored the 1971 amendments to the Cr.P.C. which had introduced Section 127(3)(c) and had, in effect, exempted the Muslim community from the operation of Section 125.
It is one thing to provide that apart from the maintenance for the period of Iddat, a Muslim divorcee should be made a suitable provision which would enable her to re-establish herself. It is a tally matter to redefine the Iddat period, against the express provision of the Shariat and the tradition of the last 14 Centuries.
You are correct to state that the ruling 'has gone beyond a literal interpretation of the statute'. But it has even gone against the spirit of the statute and the intent of the legislature, exceeded the bounds of judicial interpretation and created a situation, which is bound to cause commotion in the country.
Does the judiciary propose to enact a new Personal Law for the Muslim society - progressive and liberal as it may seem to you - by the backdoor and imposing it on the Muslim community. If so, the Judiciary is treading on the ground when the State fears to tried! The Indian State has, time and time again, wisely declared that any social reform or legal change in this regard shall not be imposed on the Muslim community. Indeed any such endeavour would be ineffective and counterproductive. The urge for reform must come from within and, for any change to be acceptable to the Muslims, it must be within the framework of the Shariat.
Kerala H.C. on Divorce for Fraud
Jommon M.J. alias M.C. John, Petitioner v. Mercy John, Respondent.
Mrs. D. SREEDEVI, J.
Divorce Act (4 of 1869), Sections 18, 19 - Decree of divorce - Ground - Pregnancy of wife on date of marriage and its non-disclosure to husband - Amounts to fraud - Husband entitled to decree for declaring their marriage null and void. -(Source: AIR 2000 Kerala 239)
Swati R. Sharma On Telegraphic Talaq
... Muslim males are increasingly opting for talaq- through-telegrams, which provides them a document showing they have divorced their wives ...
Mr. Suresh Chauhan. Court lawyer says the telegrams are needed as evidence. At times women refuse to accept before court that her husband has divorced her as per the Shariat (Islamic Law) ... The telegrams are, however, followed by court notices.
Sometimes, the fear of being trapped by the wife and her family in Section 498 A (non-bailable dowry Act) also makes the husband go for a "telegraphic divorce" to strengthen his defence ... Advocates say more than 90 per cent of such cases come from the poorer class.
... Divorce is already considered a curse for women. Now the "via telegram" device enables the husband to divorce his wife without being physically present before her ... (Source: The Statesman, 11 June, 2000)
Bharat Putra On BJP's Quest of Uniform Civil Code
In India, we have a Prime Minister, whose "family" is an enigma wrapped up in a mystery, a Chief Minister who has more than one wife, a polygamous Congress minister in Bihar and a Communication Minister who has a "modern" wife to live with him in Delhi and another one in his constituency, whose condition is worse than that of a destitute. Let us be clear on one thing. The BJP wants a uniform civil code. Since it does not have the necessary mandate to pursue this programme, it wants to tinker with the personal laws of the minorities and bring a uniform civil code through the backdoor. That is the hidden agenda of the party as it seeks to lay its hands on the Christian marriage law.(Source: The Indian Currents, 4 June, 2000)
Andhra Pradesh Court On Custody of Minors
Akash and another, Appellants v. State of Andhra Pradesh, Respondent.
V.V.S. RAO, J.
Guardians and Wards Act (8 of 1890), Section 4(2), 9(1) - Constitution of India, Article 261(3) - Custody of minor - Jurisdiction of Family Court - Family Court granted custody of minor to his mother -- She alone being guardian is entitled to represent him - Petition by maternal grand father to minor - Not maintainable.
(Source: AIR 2000 Andhra Pradesh 261)
