Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Land Dispute: BJP Law Maker Seeks Repeal of Places of Worship Act.
(Judicial Quest News Network)
A BJP Lawmaker from, Harnath Yadav, a member of the Rajya Sabha, on Thursday raised the demand to repeal of the places of Worship Act,1991. His Remarks ran into objections from the Opposition MPs.
Speaking on the issue during zero hour, Harnath Singh claimed that provisions of places of Worship (Special Provision) Act,1991, “do not just violate the constitutional principles of equality and life, but also violates the principles of secularism, which is an integral part of the preamble and the basic structure of the Constitution.
The MP from the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh said that the provisions of the law, which are illogical and “unconstitutional “cannot be challenged in courts and that this “clearly means that legal sanctity has been given by the government be forceful occupation of the Krishna Janmabhoomi and other religious places by foreign invaders.
Further he said that this arbitrary and unconstitutional law had deprived Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists of their right to practice and propagate their religion,”
He pointed out that the law also discriminates between Lord Rama and Lord Krishna who are both the ‘Avatars’ of ‘Lord Vishnu ‘there cannot be two laws for the same acts and circumstances and the doors of court cannot be shut for citizens.
The Supreme Court earlier this admitted that petitions challenging some aspects of law, including the cut-off date, and sought the response of the Union Minister of Law, Home and Culture.
All the notices of MPs were admitted by the Chairman as per Rajya Sabha rules and members who has objections can write to him said Harvinash Narayan Singh Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
The Act in question was passed in Parliament in the heat of Ramjanmbhoomi issue, it was decided that from now onwards no other such case shall be raked up in order to have a large goal of cordiality.
The Aim of the Act was to freeze the status of any place of worship as it is existed on August 15, 1947.It was also to provide the maintenance of the religious character of such place of worship as on that day.
It was intended to pre-empt new claims by any group about the past status of any place of worship and attempts to reclaim the structures or the land on which they stood. It was hoped that the legislation would help the preservation of communal harmony in the country in long run.
The spirit behind such move was that this Bill as a measure to provide and develop our glorious traditions of love, peace and harmony the then-Home Minister S.B. Chavan said in the Lok Sabha on September 10,1991.
The Country’s tradition of amity and harmony came under sever staring during the pre-independent period.
After independent we have set about healing the wounds of the past and endeavoured to restore our traditions of communal amity and goodwill to their past glory. The Congress had promised such legislation in its manifesto for the 1991, Lok Sabha election.
The main provisions of the Law describe it as “an Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th Day of August, 1947, and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto.
Section 3 and 4 of the Act declare that the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be the same as it was on August15,1947 and that no person shall convert any place of worship of any religious denomination into one of a different denomination or section.
Section 4(2) says that all suits, appeals or other proceeding regarding converting the character of a place of worship, that were pending regarding converting the character of a place of worship, that were pending on August 15, 1947, will stand abated when the Act commences and no fresh proceedings can be filed.
However, legal proceedings can be initiated with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place of worship after the commencement of the Act if the change of status took place after the cut-off date of August 15,1947.
The Bhartiya Janta Party had strongly opposed to the enactment. The BJP leadership denounced the Bill as another example of the “pseudo-secularism “being practised in the country. It saw in it an intention to appease the minorities.
In its verdict the Apex Court commented the enactment as one that preserved the constitutional value of secularism by not permitting status of a place of worship to be changed. The state has, by enacting the law, enforced a constitutional commitment and operationalized its constitutional obligations to uphold the equality of all religions and secularism, which is a part of the basic features of the constitution. RJD MP Manoj Jha and Congress MP Anand Sharma questioned the decision to allow the topic to be raised. Claiming that Singh has opened pandora’s box by bringing up the issue. The nation has suffered enough due to this religious conflict.
