Worship & the Law

The legal battle over religious sites raises crucial questions about coexistence, constitutional values, and the nation's pluralistic future

- Amal Chandra

In the ongoing legal saga concerning religious places of worship, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, stands at the heart of a debate that touches upon not just the sanctity of individual places of worship, but also the very foundations of India's secular ethos. Recently, the Supreme Court of India began hearing a fresh series of petitions challenging the validity of this Act, and the growing controversy surrounding it only deepens the complexities of India's identity as a pluralistic democracy.

At the core of these legal disputes is the question: should history, with its contentious and often painful religious conflicts, continue to shape modern-day India's identity, or should the nation evolve into one where religious coexistence, as guaranteed by the Constitution, is safeguarded through law and policy? The Places of Worship Act was passed to freeze the religious character of places of worship as they stood on August 15, 1947—essentially putting an end to any further conversions of religious sites that might inflame inter-faith disputes. It was, at its core, an attempt to secure India's fragile unity, to ensure that the sectarian violence and territorial claims of the past would not overshadow the country's progress in the future.

The Act itself has been a quiet but steadfast pillar of India's legal framework, ensuring that disputes over places like the Kashi Vishwanath and the Babri Masjid remain buried, preventing their recurrence. Yet, with the rise of fresh petitions—especially those targeting places like the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, Mathura's Shahi Idgah, and the Sambhal Jama Masjid—the law has found itself at the center of a volatile conversation about the place of religion in public life and the ongoing challenge to India's secular fabric.