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| Tuesday, 22 July 2003 |
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Asia Watch : Democracy and the politicization of religion by Lynn Ockersz The revival of the Ayodhya mosque issue in India, ahead of federal and state elections should help to bring to the centre of public debate in the region, the problem of the politicization of religion. The recurrence of this deeply emotive issue is a measure of the degree to which the forces of religious fundamentalism are continuing to impact adversely on India's political process. Latest reports indicate that the BJP-led Indian central government is under pressure from its Hindu hardline allies to sidestep the courts on this issue and to facilitate the passing of a law by Parliament, which would authorize the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid mosque. The BJP-led ruling coalition has done well to keep the hardliners at bay but it is all too evident that Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee is being compelled to conducting a fine balancing act between placating hardline Hindu sentiment and living up to the expectations of India's secular parties. "It would be good to construct a temple (on the disputed site). But the dispute should be resolved harmoniously through negotiations," Vajpayee was quoted saying recently. Given the highly pluralistic nature of the Indian body politic and its secular foundations it is difficult to see any government in India caving in tamely to hardline religious sentiment but the recurrence of the Ayodhya issue in public political discourse is a measure of the intrusion into the political process of anti-democratic, non-secular forces which may slowly and relentlessly undermine India's democratic institutions and secular political culture. The tragic consequences of this surreptitious process are already seen in the periodic bouts of religious and sectarian violence in various parts of India, most notably Gujarat and Kashmir. The Ayodhya problem is likely to be kept under containable limits as long as India's political leaders point to the need for a democratic, negotiated resolution of the issue and are guided by these principles. However, public opinion would need to be educated to a greater, decided degree on the need for a solution within these guidelines. Anti-democratic and anti-secular opinion would need to be taken on by the Indian political leadership and opinion leaders in a more forthright and unambiguous fashion, if the tone is to be set for a flourishing of India's democratic credentials. In fact, all the region's states which consider themselves democracies, would need to take on these tasks if their democratic foundations are to be strengthened. Religion was not an issue, for instance, in Sri Lanka's ignominious ethnic riots of July 1983, but now more than ever before would Lanka's secular, democratic foundations need to be emphasized, if the Lankan Government is to forge ahead with the task of ushering in a solution to its conflict, based on the power-sharing principle. In this month of July, as Sri Lankans commemorate another anniversary of the 1983 ethnic turbulence, it would be important to remember that not much headway would be made in the conflict-resolution effort if the principle of equality doesn't become the veritable moving spirit behind the negotiatory process. Coalition governance involving ethnic parties, however, makes mutual accommodation among the parties to the conflict somewhat easier. |
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