Destructive distortions?

The violence in Sambhal over the survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid indicates how vulnerable communal harmony in India has become.

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The clashes—claiming at least five lives and leaving dozens injured—expose the deep divisions prevailing in India.

Historical grievances are increasingly being weaponised to sow discord among Indian communities.

In the midst of all this, the constitutional principle of 'secularism' is being thrown in the wind.

More worryingly, such actions are often premised on the facade of maintaining or following law and order.

The case in question is a court-ordered survey of a 16th-century mosque, following a petition alleging it was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple destroyed by Babur.

This is, in fact, part of a broader claim that Mughal-era rulers destroyed temples to construct mosques, which, of course, is unfounded.

Reviving these controversies centuries later—ostensibly in pursuit of consolidating the vote base and pushing a unilateral agenda—threatens the delicate balance of coexistence in a country that is reverently regarded as a melting pot of civilisations.

The Places of Worship Act, 1991, was specifically designed to avoid such conflicts.

It protects the religious character of sites as they stood in 1947, with exceptions like Ayodhya that were already in court.