Getty ImagesIndia's Supreme Court is hearing a number of petitions challenging a decades-old law that preserves the character and identity of religious places as they existed at the time of the country's independence in 1947.
The law, introduced in 1991, prohibits converting or changing the character of any place of worship and prevents courts from hearing disputes over its status, with the exception of Babri Masjid casewhich was expressly exempted.
The Babri Mosque, a 16th-century mosque, was at the center of a long-running dispute, which culminated in its demolition by a Hindu mob in 1992. A court ruling was issued in 2019. The site was awarded to Hindus To build a temple, reigniting the debate over religious and secular fault lines in India.
Existing petitions, including one from a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, say the 1991 law violates religious freedom and constitutional secularism.
The hearing comes against the backdrop of Hindu groups filing cases to challenge the status Many mosquesClaiming that it was built on destroyed Hindu temples.
Many, including opposition leaders and Muslim groups, have defended the law, saying it is crucial to protecting places of worship for religious minorities in Hindu-majority India. They also question the nature of the historical evidence presented by the petitioners to support their claims.
They say that if the law is repealed or watered down, it could open the door to a slew of similar challenges and inflame religious tensions, especially between Hindus and Muslims.
The Supreme Court on Thursday prevented courts from registering new cases challenging the ownership of places of worship or ordering a survey to determine their character and identity until further notice. This case is scheduled to be heard next February.
Getty ImagesWhy was the law introduced?
The law stipulates that the religious character of any place of worship – temples, mosques, churches and temples – must be maintained as it was on August 15, 1947, when India gained independence.
The Place of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 was introduced by the then Congress government while the movement – led by members of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party – was underway to build a temple on the site of the Babri Mosque in the north Indian town. Ayodhya was getting stronger. The aggressive campaign sparked riots in several parts of the country, according to him Some estimatesIt left hundreds dead.
The violence was a painful reminder of the religious strife that India has witnessed to divide In 1947.
while presentation After tabling the bill in Parliament, then Home Minister SP Chavan expressed concern over the “alarming rise in intolerance being spread by certain sections for their own narrow interests”..
He added that these groups are resorting to “forced conversion” of places of worship in an attempt to create new conflicts.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, then in opposition, strongly opposed the bill, with some lawmakers walking out of Parliament. A party lawmaker said he believed the bill was introduced to appease minorities and would only increase the rift between Hindus and Muslims.
Apart from archaeological sites – whether religious or not – the only exception to the law was the Babri Mosque, where there was a legal challenge against the structure even before independence.
But Hindu mobs demolished the mosque within months of the law being enacted. In 2019, while awarding the disputed land to Hindu groups, India's Supreme Court said the demolition of the mosque was illegal.
Getty ImagesWhy does he keep making news?
The Supreme Court's ruling on the law will be decisive for the fate of dozens of religious structures, especially those affiliated with Muslims, which are disputed by Hindu groups. These include Gianfabe and Shahi Idgah, two disputed mosques in the holy cities of Varanasi and Mathura.
Critics also point out that the historic nature of the sites will make it difficult to conclusively prove disparate claims, leaving room for bitter interreligious battles and violence.
While the hearing is closely monitored, the law also makes news whenever there is a new development in cases challenging mosques.
Two weeks ago, a court in Rajasthan issued notices to the government after accepting a petition alleging that the revered Ajmer Sharif shrine — a 13th-century Sufi shrine that attracts thousands of visitors every day — is located above a Hindu temple.
Last month, there were four people killing In the town of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh state when violence broke out during a court-ordered survey of a 16th-century mosque. Islamic groups objected to the poll before the Supreme Court.
There have been tensions over other court-ordered sweeps earlier, including the case of the Gianvapi Mosque. Hindu groups said that the mosque, which dates back to the seventeenth century, was built by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb on the ruins of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Islamist groups opposed the survey ordered by a local court, saying it violated a 1991 law.
But in 2022, the Supreme Court bench headed by the then Chief Justice De Chandrachud It did not prevent the survey from moving forward. He also noted that the 1991 law did not prevent investigations into the status of places of worship as of August 15, 1947, as long as it did not seek to change it.
This has since been criticized by many, with former civil servant Harsh Mander saying it “opened the door to a series of orders issued by the courts which are inconsistent with the 1991 law”.
“If you allow a mosque to be surveyed to determine whether there is a temple underneath, and then prevent actions to restore a temple at that site, that is a sure recipe for fostering resentment, hatred and fear that can explode for years into bitter disputes.” Among people of different faiths,” Mr. Mander said books.
Thursday's Supreme Court order means that these surveys and ongoing court cases remain on hold for the time being.
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