ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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God as a Litigant: Examining the Contradictions and Biases of the Ayodhya Verdict

The Supreme Court of India’s judgment on the Ayodhya dispute enables the triumph of a majoritarian claim—backed by a long, venomous communal campaign—over minority rights. The fact that the majority Hindu community managed to successfully claim a minority religion's sacred place purely based on faith and belief comes out luridly in the judgment. While the god or deity as a juridical person may have legal validity, filing a suit in god’s name and projecting god as a litigant has the potential to bring in biases and conflicts.

Majoritarian Politics and the Ayodhya Verdict

The Ayodhya verdict favours politics over history. It bypasses the settled principles of legal scrutiny in adjudicating land conflicts. Such a verdict has detrimental ramifications for democracy and constitutional values. 

Ayodhya Land Dispute: Understanding the Issue through the 2010 Verdict

The legal history of the Ayodhya dispute is complex, with multiple suits and rulings that have covered a variety of religious, social and political issues.

Ayodhya and India's Mahabharat

Ayodhya: 6 December 1992 by P V Narasimha Rao; Penguin India, 2006; pp 336, Rs 395.

Ayodhya: A Future Bound by the Past

Fearful of an adverse judicial verdict, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others of their ilk are now keen on an outof- court settlement of the Ayodhya dispute which will put an end to the court cases against them. But the rest of the country should keep in mind two considerations. First, a settlement with the 'Sangh parivar' leaders can never be relied upon. Secondly, such a settlement will be at the cost of granting immunity to those guilty of the demolition of the Babri mosque and all the ensuing hatred and bloodshed.

Ayodhya Issue and Freedom of Expression

It is dismaying that there has hardly been any reaction in the media to the order of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court against the publication of news reports and comments on the Ayodhya issue by the print and electronic media

Crackdown in Faizabad

The crackdown by the UP government on the participants in a programme in Faizabad-Ayodhya scheduled for May 10 and 11 to commemorate the anniversary of the 1857 revolt against British rule is further evidence that in states where the BJP forms the government, or where the party is a constituent element in the government, it is the voice of Hindutva rather than the Constitution of India that is the guiding principle of state policy.

NDA: Electoral Performance and Future Strategies

The BJP finds itself in a serious bind as the UP elections approach. Should it take up the temple issue, as advocated by certain hardcore elements, it might risk losing the support of key allies at the centre. On the other hand, for the BJP to win the elections on its own looks increasingly onerous.

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