Descent into chaos

Twenty-eight years after a mob demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, amid an outcry across the country over the structure which Hindu nationalists claimed had been constructed over the remains of a temple built to mark the birthplace of the Lord Rama, a Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ayodhya has ruled that none of the 32 accused in the case are guilty for the demolition. These people include senior leaders of the BJP, the party that was in power at the time in 1992, when the demolition took place, and the party which is in power now. The question this verdict raises for India is a very big one. In the first place CPI courts are considered to be subservient to the central government. This may be one reason why the predictions that the central government would intervene in the matter never surfaced. The Supreme Court of India, in a previous judgment, had ruled that the area of controversy in Ayodhya should be divided and a portion allocated to build Babri Masjid and another to the Ram Temple.

But India surprisingly for many, has turned into a state much like the one the RSS and other Hindu nationalist forces have always said would be the future of the country. Whether it can change from this point on is questionable. If no one is guilty, then how did Babri Masjid fall? And what will happen for now? There is speculation that demands may come in for the destruction of other Muslim religious spaces, creating still greater sectarian hatred in the country. Certainly Indian democracy is under greater threat than ever before. Whether it can survive in a country where it has been sustained for 70 years is now a huge question. The parties that oppose the BJP are many. They are secular in nature, but they have largely been silenced. Rahul Gandhi’s arrest just proves where the country’s politics is headed.

While the BJP does not hold a very large share of the Indian vote, it has certainly gained in power and popularity through its agenda of creating the idea of a Hindu State. This is hugely destructive to the Muslim minority of India. And much of the future will depend on what happens next in terms of elections, the economy, and the coronavirus, which is affecting all aspects of life. The BJP has also suffered defeat in some states and come very close to loss even in strongholds during regional elections. But for now it holds sway in a country reeling under these right-wing forces.