Ayodhya Verdict May Encourage a Second Wave of Hindu Triumphalism

The verdict on the Ayodhya matter will send the wrong message to India’s religious minorities.

People wave a flag that reads ‘Glory to lord Rama’ as they celebrate the verdict outside the Supreme Court in New Delhi, on Saturday, 9 November.

(Photo: AP)

The Supreme Court judgment on the Ayodhya matter is extremely unfortunate.

It goes against the principle of rightful restitution, against the law-breakers who desecrated the mosque first in 1934 and then in 1949 and eventually demolished it in 1992. The SC has virtually accepted every point that is made by the Muslim side representing the Sunni Waqf Board. The SC accepted that the mosque was built by Babur in 1528 and that Muslims had long periods of time when the namaz was offered there.

It is a paradox that the SC has accepted many of the arguments made by the Muslims over the last several years but the final judgment is that they are not going to be given any portion of the disputed land. This verdict in the Ayodhya case is going to send the very wrong message to India’s religious minorities. It may also encourage a second wave of Hindu triumphalism.

(Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is an author and journalist based in Delhi. His most recent book is ‘The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right’. He can be reached at @NilanjanUdwin. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)