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Journalism of Courage
With the Supreme Court dismissing a petition for deferment,the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court is all set to pronounce its verdict on the Ayodhya title suit. This past week,the air has been thick with yearnings that the issue could somehow be returned to the slow burner or that the high court verdict could somehow be postponed for a last,hasty shot at reconciliation. The tremulousness is understandable. When an issue has so long resisted resolution and when that issue has shaken the republic so violently the reluctance to face it four-square cannot be conveniently dismissed as escapism. However,mature democracies do not deal in wishful thinking,and the Supreme Court,intentionally or not,has been creative in reminding this country of its institutional strength to get on with things. It applied a short pause and then,on the basis of sober deliberation,refused to be inhibited by any political or executive pressure. The process followed by the apex court could turn out to be crucial,for it has reinforced the supremacy of the law in this land.
The law gives the petitioners in the Allahabad high court the option to appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court. One or more of them may do so after the verdict is read out in the afternoon of September 30. However,the challenge for our politics is to separate these individuals rights as petitioners from any mobilisation on the issue. For all the reminders of India having moved on,and of the Ram temple movement having lost its political salience,there is suspicion that the political parties are still waiting to see which way a political wind may blow after the verdict. The verdict is not on the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6,1992. But the anxieties that prevail are framed by that event. This puts the onus,first of all,on the BJP of acknowledging that it is more than just another bystander. Its leaders have been strident in appealing for calm,but they have to take the logical next step. They need to deliver on the moderation of their tone and say that they will distance themselves from any rabble-rousing,even if it be by a far-flung affiliate of the Sangh Parivar. They need to make it clear that they will not mobilise by proxy.
