Omkar Dattatray
India is a secular democracy and its secular character must be kept intact and maintained at all costs come what may. The question of survey in religious places should not become a breeding ground for religious tension and religious disputes. No worthwhile purpose will be solved by surveying the religious places as it may lead to disruptions and religious tensions which may give rise to Hindu-Muslim conflicts and disruptions which is very dangerous for the secularism and pluralism of the country. Therefore no unwarranted step should be taken in the country which will lead to disharmony among different religions. India is a multi-religious, multi lingual, multi-culture and multi-dimensional country and its diversity should be maintained and for this it is necessary that there should be no dispute on the religious places. Thus for maintaining the secular character of the country it is necessary to uphold the statuesque on all the religious places throughout the length and breadth of the country. At the same time the characteristic of unity in diversity should be kept intact which is the intrinsic beauty of the land called Hindustan. There should be no dispute and dissention on the different places of worship in the country as it will lead to a dangerous trend of igniting the fires of Hindu-Muslim disputes which will lead to religious tensions and conflicts in the plural country and hence this is unacceptable. Therefore nothing should be done which will give rise to Hindu-Muslim disputes and tensions as these are against the secular tenets of the country and it will divide the country and create communal tensions. No old cupboards and skeletons should be opened as this will lead to communal tensions and disputes which are against the secular fabric of the country. So what is needed is that in all the religious places throughout the country the position which obtained on 15th August 1947 must be maintained and kept intact for the flourishing of the secularism and Hindu-Muslim unity which is the guarantee for the unity and integrity of the country. Therefore complete statuesque must be maintained on the character of all religious places meaning thereby that on the places of the worship the position as it obtained on 15th August 1947 must be maintained at all costs for the flourishing of the secularism and pluralism. The places of the worship Act 1991 should not be tinkered with as this act is the guarantee for the communal amity and harmony and as such no change should be incorporated in this important piece of legislation as doing so will give rise to communal and religious strife which will damage the plural fabric of the nation. Therefore it is important and in the interest of the communal harmony that the places of worship Act1991 should and must be followed in letter and spirit for the flourishing of the secularism and Hindu-Muslim unity and communal harmony which is badly needed in the country. If the character and position of the places of the worship are sought to be altered it will give rise to Hindu-Muslim disputes and tensions in the country and it may lead to a civil war in the country and therefore no change should be made in the places of the worship Act and the consequent changes in the character of the thousands of the places of the worship in the country. Therefore no change should be made in the character and position of the religious places as it obtained at the time of the freedom and so this position of the places of worship should be maintained to avert the communal tension and disputes in the vulnerable society. Thus it is important and in the best interests of the country that the position which obtained at the time of the freedom should be maintained for the strength of the secularism. Therefore there is great need to keep the character of the places of worship intact as it was at the time of the freedom from the British imperialism. So it is crystal clear that there should be no change in the places of worship so for as it relates to change in the character of the religious places throughout the country. Thus the character of all the places of worship should be maintained across the country. Therefore there should be no change in the character of the places of worship across the country to keep the secularism intact. Thus it follows that there should be no change in the position and character of the places of worship as it stood on the occasion of the freedom of the country. It is the duty of all of us to see that the places of worship are kept intact and there is no change in the position and character of the places of worship so that secularism will flourish and there is no communal tension in the country due to the change in the position and character of the religious places. There is utmost need to follow the provisions of the places of worship Act 1991 so that there is no change in the character and position of the religious places across the length and breadth of the country. Therefore there should be no change in the character and position of the religious places as it stood on the 15th August 1947.Thus the thousands of the places of worship in the country should be allowed to continue its position and character as it stood on the occasion of the freedom of the country, because if we try to make changes in the character of the religious places, it will create Pandora box and people will seek change in the character of the religious places, which will create communal trouble across the country and thus it will be problematic for the country and its secularism. Thus what is needed is that the places of worship should be allowed to retain their culture as it stood at the time of independence and there should be no change in the character and position of the religious places so that secularism will grow and flourish in the country. The minority community of the country is also demanding that the worship places Act of 1991 should be followed and there should be no change in the provisions of this act and there should be no change in the character and position of the religious places across the country. The Muslim community pleads that there should be no change in the character of the religious places throughout the country. It should be ensured that there is no change in the places of the worship as it stood on 15th August 1947 in order to protect the much valued secularism and pluralism. If we try to make changes in the character and position of the religious places, it will lead to communal tension and clashes in the country and it will give a big setback to secularism in the country which will be against the secular fabric of the country. Therefore there is great need to keep the character and position of the places of worship of thousands of the religious places intact for the cause of secularism and pluralism. The meddling with the position and character of the places of worship as it stood on the occasion of the freedom will jeopardize the secularism and plural tenets of the country and hence there is no need and necessity to create communal tension across the country due to the change in the character of the places of worship. It is the duty of the majority community to protect the places of the worship of the minority community so that true secularism will flourish in the country. For maintaining of the secularism, there is great need to protect the character and position of the religious places across the country and so it should be ensured that the character and position of the places of the worship should be maintained for the growth of secularism and pluralism. To conclude it can be said that the statuesque of all the religious places in the country as it stood on the occasion of the independence should be kept intact and maintained so that there are no communal tensions and disturbances because of the changes in the character and position of the places of worship. Thus the character of the places of worship as it stood on the occasion of freedom of the country should be maintained at all costs.
(The author is a columnist and social activist).
