Category: Religion

Uttar Pradesh: Court-Appointed Commissioner Surveys Mughal-Era Mosque Amid Claims of Ancient Hindu Temple

The mosque, built by Babar, is acknowledged as a ‘historic monument’ on the official website of Sambhal district. However, Hindu petitioners claim it’s the site of an ancient Kalki temple.

New Delhi: A Mughal-era mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district was on Tuesday (November 19) surveyed by an advocate commissioner on the orders of a local civil court which acted on a petition filed by Hindu activists claiming the Islamic religious site was originally a prominent Hindu temple dedicated to an avatar of Vishnu.

The managing committee of the Shahi Jama Masjid as well as the local Muslim population were astounded by the tearing hurry displayed by the advocate commissioner Ramesh Raghav in initiating the survey proceedings within a few hours after the court’s directions.

Photography and videography of the mosque premises were carried out during the survey which lasted for one and a half to two hours, according to different sources. The proceedings were carried out in the presence of the district magistrate and the district police chief.

Civil judge senior division Aditya Singh directed the survey of the mosque after an application was filed by eight plaintiffs, led by pro-Hindutva lawyer Hari Shankar Jain and Hindu seer Mahant Rishiraj Giri, as part of a civil suit claiming right for access into the mosque.

The mosque, claimed to have been built on the directions of the first Mughal emperor Babar, is acknowledged as a “historic monument” on the official website of the Sambhal district. The Hindu petitioners, however, claimed that the mosque was the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Kalki, the prophesised final incarnation of Vishnu. In 1529, Babar partly demolished the Hari Hari temple and tried to convert it into a mosque, said Vishnu Shankar Jain, lawyer and the son of the chief plaintiff Hari Shankar Jain.

While accepting the plea of the Hindu plaintiffs to get the mosque surveyed by an advocate commissioner, the court said, “The submission of a report of the site might facilitate the court to adjudicate the suit.”

Also read: Arson, Loot and ‘Unidentified’ Vandals: How Muslims Were Targeted in Bahraich

Zafar Ali, an advocate representing the mosque, said the survey went on for two hours. “No objectionable object was found during the survey. There was nothing that could have created a doubt. This has made it clear that the Shahi Jama Masjid is indeed a mosque,” Ali said.

The lawyer said the survey was carried out immediately after the court order came in  as the advocate commissioner had a personal engagement, his daughter’s wedding, to cater to in the coming days.

A copy of the civil judge senior division Sambhal order directing a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid by an advocate commissioner. The court passed the order on an application by some Hindu plaintiffs who claim that the mosque was the site of an old Kalki (avatar of Vishnu) temple.

According to a source, the court passed its order at around 3:30 pm while the advocate commissioner’s survey began at 7 pm. “It was conducted without giving us an opportunity to file objections or without holding the necessary peace meetings in the area so that no untoward incident takes place,” said a lawyer associated with the mosque.

During the survey, the boundaries of the mosque and store rooms that were locked were also inspected, said Ali. stressing that the caretakers of the mosque fully cooperated with the court-appointed commissioner.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, lawyer for the Hindu plaintiffs, said further surveys would continue as many features of the mosque were yet to be studied. This was a “non-invasive survey,” stressed Jain.

He alleged that Babur had partly demolished the original site in 1529. “It is believed that Kalki avatar is to happen at Sambhal,” said Jain, claiming that there were several signs and symbols of the Hari Har Mandir inside the mosque.

In their suit, the plaintiffs said that the mosque was  a monument protected under Section 3 (3) of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. They claimed that they were being “denied access” to the mosque, described by them as “subject property,” as the Archaeological Survey of India had not taken any steps for entry of the general public as mentioned in the provisions of Section 18 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

The plaintiffs claimed that the site was a centuries-old Har Hari Temple dedicated to Kalki and was being “used forcibly and unlawfully” by the Jama Masjid caretaking committee. 

Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Sambhal, raised concern over the hurried manner in which the advocate commissioner’s survey was initiated. “We were not given any notice. Our reply was not sought. They carried it in a hurried manner. But there was no emergency or anything urgent,” Barq told reporters outside the mosque. 

Also read: History Will Record the Helping Hand Many Judges Lent When Indian Secularism Was Being Demolished

Barq said that the mosque was protected by The Place of Worship Act, 1991. “Despite this, some people want to spoil the atmosphere of the state and the country,” he said.

The SP leader underlined that the Jama Masjid was a Muslim place of worship. “They will not find anything even the size of a needle which can be called objectionable. This was a mosque, is a mosque and will remain a mosque,” said Barq.

Rajender Pensiya, district magistrate Sambhal, said the administration and the police were present during the survey proceedings to provide security.

According to a British-era gazetteer published in 1891, ‘The Monumental Antiquities and Inscriptions, in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh’, the Hindu claim on the mosque existed even then. The document said that the Muslims ascribed the erection of the building to the time of Babur and point to an inscription inside the mosque, which records the constriction of the site by Mir Hindu Beg in the year 933 as per the Islamic calendar, which corresponds to the year 1526.

The Hindus, however, claimed that the inscription was a forgery of a later date, said the gazetteer. “At or on the back of this slab, they say that there is the original Sanskrit inscription belonging to the temple,” the gazetteer said.

Commenting on the issue, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi said the Babri Masjid judgement has emboldened Hindutva groups to target Muslim places of worship across India.

Referring to the Sambhal survey, Owaisi underlined that within three hours of the application being submitted, the civil judge ordered an initial survey at the mosque site to find out if a temple had been demolished to build the mosque.

“The application was made by a lawyer who is the UP govt’s standing counsel in SC. The survey was carried out on the same day. This is how Babri’s locks were also opened within an hour of the court order, without even hearing the other side,” wrote Owaisi on his X handle.

Remembering Alamelu Mangai Thayarammal and her Fight for Dravidian Identity

On this day, 108 years ago, a lone woman joined a group of 30 individuals to establish the South Indian Liberal Federation (SILF), later known as the Justice Party, which laid the foundation for the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu.

On this day, 108 years ago, a lone woman joined a group of 30 individuals to establish the South Indian Liberal Federation (SILF), later known as the Justice Party, which laid the foundation for the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu.

On November 20, 1916, a gathering of non-Brahmin leaders and dignitaries convened at the residence of advocate T. Ethirajulu Mudaliyar in Vepery, Chennai. Among the attendees were distinguished figures like Pitti Theagaraya Chettiar, Dr. T.M. Nair, P. Rajarathina Mudaliyar, Dr. C. Natesa Mudaliyar, P.M. Sivagnana Mudaliar and K. Venkata Reddy Naidu, among others. Alamelu Mangai Thayarmmal was the only woman present, marking a historic yet often overlooked moment.

Her influence paved the way for many women to join and shape the Dravidian movement in meaningful ways. From active involvement in the anti-Hindi agitations during both the first (1937-40) and the second phase (1965) to dismantling the Devadasi system and advocating for self-respect and widow remarriages, women became an indispensable part of the movement.

“Women consistently played a central role in the movement,” says A.S. Panneerselvan, senior journalist and author of Karunanidhi: A Life. “It was a Dalit woman leader, Annai Meenambal Sivaraj, who conferred the title of ‘Periyar’ on Periyar. Around 200 women were active contemporaries of Periyar.”

For a long time, Thayarammal’s origins, background or even a photograph was not available. A Google search of her name reveals only her attendance at the SILF’s inaugural meeting in 1916 and a montessori school bearing her name in Chintadripet, Chennai. “Well, she might have contributed land to the school,” says Era. Chiththaanai, project officer of the Tamil Virtual Academy, which also runs a digital library.

Chiththaanai also shared a digital version of Who’s Who in Madras, 1935 – an annual periodical that was published by Pearl Press in Cochin. This edition contains a fairly comprehensive note on Thayarammal.

“Alamelumangathayarammal, Mrs., Kalhasti, M.L.C., d. of Mr. P. Krishnaswamy Naidu. b. on 25th August 1892 at Udamalpet, Coimbatore Dt, Non-Brahmin, Hindu-Balija. Educated at U. F.C. M. Girls’ High School up to the old Matriculation. m. Mr. S.0 Narasimhalu Naidu in 1900. Was given the title of “Pandithai” by Saiva Sabha, Palamcottah, in June 1911. Honorary Presidency Magistrate; Vice-President, Honorary Magistrates’ Association; Non-Official Visitor to Senior Certified School: Member, Children’s Aid Society and Madras Society of Protection to Children, Thondiarpet; Member, Madras Dt. Educational Council; Member, Secondary Educational Council, Madras Dt. Propaganda Committee; Madras Presidency Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society Committee, Madras; Madras Vigilance Association; South Indian National Health Association; Hony. Magistrate, Madras Juvenile Court, Member, Madras Legislative Council, Senate and Academic Council, Annamalai University; Vice-President, Vidhava Vivaha Sahayak Sabha; Supt., Saraswathi Balika Patasala; Hony. Secy. Brahmo Samaj (Ladies Section), Madras; Hony. Health Propagandist, Chingleput Dt. Board; and Joint Hony. Secretary, Gosha Fund; and Supervisor, Carnatic Stipendiaries; Publications: “Dravidian Religion” and “Women of Ancient Dravidian Land”. Has been and is a regular Contributor to Newspapers on topical subjects and matters of social general importance. Editor of “Dravidan” for some time. Add: 12, Tulasingham St., Washermanpet, Madras,” the note reads.

Also read: The Dravidian Model and Its Long History of Upholding Women’s Rights

The fact that she edited Dravidan, a journal launched shortly after the formation of the Justice Party in 1917, speaks of her significant role as a leader within the Dravidian movement. The journal was established to unite non-Brahmins and serve as a platform for the dissemination of ideas that challenged the Brahminical dominance in Tamil society.

The nearly 200-word note in the Who’s Who in Madras, 1935, accompanied by a rare photograph, is one of the few available resources on Thayarammal, a pioneer of the Dravidian movement, and highlights her diverse interests. The note also mentions Thayarammal as MLC, a member of the Madras Legislative Council, a position she had held from 1931.

The note also mentions that Thayarammal was conferred with the title Pandithai (the female form of Pandit) by the Palayamkottai Saiva Sabha in June 1911. This honour likely followed her speech on Dravida matham (Dravidian religion) at the Sabha. The speech was later published as a book in 1914, where she is credited with the title Chennai Pandithai. In 2023, writer and researcher K. Ragupathi republished the book, along with a few other essays on Hindu religion, reigniting interest in this pioneering leader after more than a century.

“Those who attended the release event mentioned that they were unaware of such a leader,” recalls Ragupathi. “There is a fundamental difference in the ways Brahmins and non-Brahmins worship. Brahmins practiced Ambal worship, where obedience was central, while non-Brahmins engaged in Amman worship, which was characterised by vigour and fervour. This difference was evident across South India. Non-Brahmin worship was marked by equality; there was no distribution of prasadam. Instead, they cooked together in the temple and shared the meal. Thayarammal had a deep understanding of religion and caste within the Indian context, an understanding that remains relevant today.”

Ragupathi says that Thayarammal recognised the distinct differences between the Aryans and the Dravidians. “Throughout the text, she emphasised how the Dravidians had everything long before the Aryans arrived, citing Tholkāppiyam and Tirukkural as evidence. While many leaders who spoke about caste did open important doors for understanding caste, their approach was grounded in the framework of the four varnas. Thayarammal, however, approached it from a Dravidian perspective. She believed that understanding the Dravidians had to begin with them. It is difficult to comprehend Dravidians from any other vantage point,” he explains.

Ragupathi was eager to republish the book because the Aryan-versus-Dravidian debate remains highly relevant today. He also points out how, over time, non-Brahmins have come to identify as Hindus, often being pitted against each other. “The fact that she delivered the speech in a Saiva Sabha was significant. At that time, debates were ongoing within Saiva organisations about whether to accept caste. Some Tamil Saivaites, too, were arguing against caste. It was perhaps in this context that she was invited to speak.”

In the blurb for the book published by Thadagam Publications, Ragupathi writes: “In the lineage of male figures like Ayothee Dasar, who revived Tamil Buddhism, Abraham Pandithar, who revived Tamil music, and Anandham Pandithar, who revived Tamil Siddha medicine, Thayarammal should be seen in the same light. She revived the idea of the Dravidian religion. Though historically Aryans and Dravidians were opposed to each other, the fact that both were eventually transformed into Hindus is a political irony.”

In her speech, Thayarammal makes a compelling case for Dravidian religion, asserting that it existed long before the Aryan invasion. She argues that Dravidian religion was opposed to caste, promoted equality and did not involve temples or idol worship, but instead centred on the worship of hero stones. She emphasises that Dravidian religion does not adhere to the concepts of heaven or hell, but instead focuses on the notions of good and bad.

Chiththaanai states that Thayarammal hailed from a “hugely rich family” in Udumalaipettai. “They owned lands in Chintadripet, which she donated to many institutions,” he added.

He also mentions that the Palayamkottai Saiva Sabha was “progressive.” Unlike many Shaiva Sabhas of that time, which granted memberships primarily to those from dominant communities, the Palayamkottai Saiva Sabha’s by-laws declared that people from any caste could become members. “That is perhaps why she was invited to speak,” Chiththaanai adds.

Towards the end of her speech, Thayarammal exhorts non-Brahmins to “rid themselves of their Aryan shackles, sacrifice the treacherous religion” and unite beyond caste. “May the Almighty enable the Dravidians to abandon the Aryan religion that honours only one class, and return to the Dravidian religion, which treats everyone with equality beyond caste and communal differences,” she concludes.

Kavitha Muralidharan is an independent journalist.

My Wishlist for the 51st Chief Justice of India

Please remember Lord Denning’s advice. Please take your colleagues into confidence in whatever you do. Whatever you do, please don’t speak to God.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna is now the 51st Chief Justice of India. My congratulations to him.

I have a wishlist that I would like to share with him and it reads like this:

First, everyone knows judges speak through their judgments. So, speak when you have to, but through your judgments, not at public platforms. In college, we would refer to constant speechifying as verbal diarrhoea. Its a terrible disease and can get you into into all kinds of messy situations.

There are a few exceptions to this; you could speak (and you should) at judicial academies in different parts of the country. This will immensely benefit judges and judicial officers and you will also get to know their strengths and problems. A token visit is not good enough – it will soon be forgotten. 

You could speak at law schools so that students and their professors know first-hand what judges and justice delivery are all about. You could speak on topics like legal aid and access to justice for the disadvantaged, the marginalised, those in custody and a few other sections of society. Something grounded. Do you know, millions of people are demanding justice, but cannot access courts for one reason or another. Please speak about giving them justice. About a decade ago judicial academies talked of a docket explosion, but there was also talk of docket exclusion. This is a reality you could talk about.

Whatever you do, please don’t speak to God. We have 30 million of them plus a few more. Their message is the same, but everyone interprets this differently. Can you imagine what will happen if God tells you and a brother or sister judge the same thing and both (or more) of you interpret the message differently. What will God think of you?

The other day, my doctor asked me to take a particular tablet before dinner. I asked three different Gods when exactly should I take the tablet. I got three different answers. God can play tricks. Don’t mess around with God and if you do, do it privately, not under the gaze of a camera.

Second, while on decision making, may I suggest that judgments delivered by courts should be short and to the point. Remember Lord Denning’s advice – keep it short, stupid. Please share it with your colleagues, but don’t call them stupid. There is no need to sermonise. If the people want to participate in a sermon, they can always go to a satsang and then there are all night jagrans if you are looking for a long sermon. There’s plenty to chose from. So, why bore everybody with judicial sermons they really don’t care about.

One day, I took a 450-page judgment to my neighbourhood book club. This led to an animated discussion – were we expected to discuss and review a judgment or a book? Opinion was divided, as one would expect, but more importantly, nobody cared to read the judgment cum book. So much for respect for the law and the courts. 

Many years ago, I met a professor of English who teaches judgment writing. Among his students are judges of the Supreme Court of Canada and the High Court of Australia and many such legal luminaries. He asked me one question: for whom do you write a judgment? There are many answers to this question. It could be the litigants before you, for there is no one else who is interested in the case but the litigating parties. It could be the lawyers since they need to advise their clients, that is why there are law reports galore. It could be your friend, your neighbour or the average newspaper reader who needs to know the law. The words and sentences employed in the judgment must be crafted accordingly. The average newspaper reader does not know Latin. The lawyers in Delhi or Mumbai have a good knowledge of English, but not the mofussil or taluka lawyers. In other words, short and well articulated judgments are the need of the hour, not hundreds of pages.

Third, please pay attention to appointment of judges. The political executive has emasculated the collegium system of appointments. They appoint whom they want to and disappoint others. The committed judiciary of Indira Gandhi’s dreams is gradually becoming a reality today. There are horror stories of pre-appointment consultations between the collegium and the political executive. I don’t believe them, but there are some who do. There is a recent article in the public domain that mentions this quite explicitly. True or not, the fact is some recommendations by the collegium have raised question marks and the failure to make some recommendations have raised even more question marks. We will know the truth in just a couple of years and if we do have a committed judiciary, we might as well write off our democracy. 

While on the issue of appointments, the collegium must also discipline itself. If the collegium doesn’t discipline itself, the political executive will certainly not. There is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that files forwarded by the government for consideration of the collegium do not follow any chronological order and the collegium also does not follow any chronological order in its consideration. So, you have a situation (once too often) when a high court gets precedence over another. Candidates from that High Court therefore get appointed sooner. Why should the collegium play favourites? This unsavoury game upsets the seniority of judges and will have a visible impact about 10 years later when the appointment of Chief Justices and judges to the Supreme Court are made. While this discussion is relevant today, it looks like it will become irrelevant a decade later by which time the political executive will have taken full control of the appointment of judges. Please see if you can guard against this. You and the Supreme Court are our only hope.

Also read: Full Text | ‘The Seven Mistakes of Ex-CJI Chandrachud,’ According to Justice Madan Lokur

Fourth – pendency of cases. This is a massive problem. We now have more than 51 million cases pending in the courts across the country and more than 80,000 in the Supreme Court. Its difficult to find out how many are pending in various tribunals and other adjudicatory bodies all over the country. Is anybody bothered?

I’m sorry to say this, but your predecessors in office have shown hardly any interest in tackling the burgeoning pendency of cases for a variety of reasons – some, because of a short tenure as the Chief Justice and others because they don’t really care. You may be aware that every other day, somebody or the other makes a plaintive cry for justice. They don’t know that they may not get justice for the next 10 or 15 years and perhaps not in their lifetime. On the other hand, there are some who get justice surprisingly quickly. Is this fair? Justice and its dispensation has to be even-handed. The people of the country expect this. Public trust and credibility are the hallmarks of a robust justice delivery system and if these are missing, we’re heading for big trouble.

The huge pendency of cases can be tackled successfully – it will take a couple of years, but it is possible to achieve. Full cooperation and proper planning by the government and the judiciary is essential. At present, neither of them seem interested and the beat goes on. 

It is essential to make all high courts equivalent to the Supreme Court of the state. Why should the Supreme Court entertain cases relating to the interpretation of state and municipal laws? The high court of the state must have the final word and if it makes a mistake, it can always correct the error. Even the Supreme Court corrects its mistakes, why can’t the high courts? The Supreme Court has always been loathe to interfere in interlocutory orders, but now petitions are filed and sometimes (though infrequently) entertained by the Supreme Court. Ask yourself, why?

Finally, please take your colleagues into confidence in whatever you do, particularly your potential successors. Justice management is not a one man show.You can’t tackle all problems by yourself. You also can’t tackle them during your tenure – some problems take time to get sorted out. If your colleagues are involved in the decision making and implementation process, continuity is assured. Often, the succeeding Chief Justice undoes what his predecessor started out to do. Don’t let that happen. Chief Justices of high courts are key players in the justice system. You can (and must) consult them also. After all, some of them might become judges of the Supreme Court one day. 

You have inherited a great legacy, that of your uncle Justice H.R. Khanna. He spoke truth to power and in doing so, he was true to the constitutional oath that he had taken. Nothing less, absolutely nothing less is expected of you. I am confident you will take correct decisions in the interest of the Supreme Court and justice delivery across the country. Worrying about the legacy that you have inherited, not your legacy, will help.

Justice Madan B. Lokur is a judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji. He is former judge of the Supreme Court.

Arjak Sangh: A Band of Anti-Caste Atheists Battling Brahmanism in the Hindi Heartland Since 1968

The outfit, which has seen its membership decline over the years, believes that the root of society’s ills are the “lack of education” and religious hypocrisy.

New Delhi: “They reacted as if a bomb had exploded,” said Shiv Kumar ‘Bharti’, recalling the public outrage he encountered on the day he got married in a village in Kanpur in 1977.

Shiv Kumar, then 27 years old, had already spent almost a decade aligning with the principles of the Arjak Sangh when he decided to get married without any Brahmanical rituals or the evocation of Hindu gods and goddesses.

Instead, his wedding was conducted in the Arjak tradition, where there is no chanting of mantras or the presence of pandits. There is also no kanyadaan, the patriarchal ceremony where the bride’s father gives her away to the groom. The couple does not take pheras around the agni (sacred fire) and there is no mandap.

The wedding is a simple social affair, where the man and the woman read out pledge documents affirming each other as wife and husband in front of an audience. They sign the documents and click a photo in the presence of an ‘oath commissioner’ assigned by the outfit.

“They accept each other as spouses and promise to treat each other with equality, and make their life pleasant and indestructible with the vow of forever contributing to the development and prosperity of a society based on the equality of human beings,” said Shiv Kumar, recalling his own vows.

The Arjak wedding is a simple social affair. Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

Seventy-four-year-old Shiv Kumar’s rejection of Brahmanical tradition and rituals stems from the philosophy he imbibed at the Arjak Sangh, the tiny organisation of anti-Brahmanical atheists and humanists that has survived 56 years in the Hindi-Hindu heartland of the country.

Last year, the outfit sprung into the limelight again when, during the centenary celebration event of its chief idealogue, the late Ram Swaroop Verma, senior opposition leader and Ambedkarite Swami Prasad Maurya launched a scathing attack on Brahmanism and the caste hierarchy.

Maurya utilised the stage to further his own ideological agenda of questioning the sanctity of the Ramcharitmanas, one of the most popular Hindu epics, just months ahead of the big launch of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

“The roots of Brahmanism are very deep and it is also the cause of all disparities. There is no religion called Hindu. Hindu dharma is just a deception. In true sense, it is a conspiracy to trap the Dalits, tribals and backwards of this country in the web of their religion by projecting the Brahman dharma as Hindu dharma,” Maurya said at the Arjak Sangh event in August 2023.

His utterances may sound too radical for a mainstream politician in the Hindi belt, especially under a government ruled by the Hindutva-based BJP, but they were in sync with what the Arjak Sangh has been propagating since June 1, 1968, when it was founded in Uttar Pradesh by a bunch of Left-oriented socialists led by Verma. In fact, in 1978, members of the Arjak Sangh had even publicly burned copies of the Ramcharitmanas in a historic protest.

The founders of the Arjak Sangh believed that while political change had empowered the working classes and castes post-independence, true change would only come with social transformation, as society was still plagued by unscientific and blind religious beliefs, superstition and caste-based discrimination.

Shiv Kumar was just 18 when he was inducted to the Arjak Sangh by Verma. A socialist politician and social reformer who had founded the outfit along with other anti-caste socialist thinkers, Verma also happened to be Shiv Kumar’s uncle.

Shiv Kumar Bharti in Bihar in February on the birth anniversary of Babu Jagdeo Prasad, considered a socialist icon by the Arjak Sangh. Photo: Special arrangement.

Last year, Shiv Kumar was elected national president of the outfit, which although much diminished in its resources and size, still commands a prime position in the anti-caste realm, primarily due to its radical emphasis on scientific values and the rejection of all things associated with orthodox Brahmanism.

The Arjak Sangh advocates humanism, rationalism, scientific temper and education for all through a society where caste hierarchies cease to exist. The outfit believes that the root of all ills in our society are “lack of education” and “pakhand”, which in simple words translates to religious hypocrisy.

At its core, it denounces the idea of a supreme being. Its followers are atheists who reject all forms of god, goddesses, idols and the traps of heaven, hell, afterlife and re-birth.

While the organisation used to be very popular, especially in the 1970s and ’80s, today it has around 15,000 members, spread across many states. Its branches operate in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, where they hold regular meetings, dharnas, marches and discussions.

This year, it launched a nation-wide campaign for reforms to the country’s education system. The ‘national education policy’ demanded by it envisages providing education that is uniform, free, humanist, comprehensive and based on scientific values.

It calls for a restriction on the entry of or intervention by social or religious organisations in the field of education. It proposes that the country’s education budget correspond to its expenditure on defence and advocates the compulsory teaching of nationhood, citizenship, maths, geography and the achievements of science at the primary education level.

Most strikingly, the Arjak Sangh’s education blueprint states that there should be complete rejection of superstition, re-birth, destiny and fatalism, caste, discrimination and miracles at all levels of the education system.

Their philosophy can be summed thus: “Rashtrapati, DM ka beta ya nirdhan ki ho santan, bhed bhav pakhand rahit, shikhsha muft va ek samaan.” It translates to, “Whether it is the son of the president or a district magistrate or the offspring of a poor person, education should be free, uniform and without any discrimination or dogma.”

The Arjak Sangh is also in favour of the equitable distribution of opportunities and resources. “Do baatein hai, moti moti, sabko izzat sabko roti” (There are two broad things, respect and food to all).

Ram Swaroop Verma and Maharaj Singh Bharti: the two main ideologues of the Arjak Sangh

Much of what the Arjak Sangh believes in is traced from the writings, ideas, books and orations of two socialist politicians and reformers – Verma and Maharaj Singh Bharti. Both hailed from a farming background and belonged to what are today described as OBCs.

Verma was a Kurmi from Kanpur Dehat and Bharti a Jat from Meerut. They were staunch opponents of Brahmanism and orthodox Hindu faith built on the caste system.

Ram Swaroop Verma (left) and Maharaj Singh Bharti (right). Photos by arrangement.

Verma, today remembered as the main ideologue and face of the outfit, was elected MLA six times from rural Kanpur. He also served as the finance minister of UP under the government of Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1967. ‘Mahamana’ to his followers, Verma had listed “Manav Dharm” as his religion, UP state assembly records show.

Bharti was a national council member of the Samyukta Socialist Party and was previously associated with the Congress. He was elected as a member of the UP legislative council in 1958. In 1967, he defeated three-time sitting MP and former decorated military officer Shah Nawaz Khan of the Congress to win the Lok Sabha election from Meerut.

A Sangwan Jat, Maharaj Singh was an agriculturalist from a zamindari family. He focused on educating farmers on agricultural issues and eradicating casteism, authoring almost two dozen books. He adopted the name ‘Bharti’, drawing from the freedom struggle. Today, several Arjak members, including its president Shiv Kumar, use the surname ‘Bharti’. This is partly also because this allows them to shed their caste identity. Shiv Kumar’s original surname was Katiyar.

Bharti’s main principles were centred around the creation of a society based on scientific values and outlook. “He viewed religious malpractice as a big source of exploitation,” said his grandson Manish Bharti. Following in the tracks of his grandfather, Manish is also a staunch atheist and agriculturalist.

Manish said his grandfather went beyond the usual criticism of the Brahmanical system, debunking it through rational reasoning and offering solutions to these questions through a scientific approach.

Despite only receiving basic education, Bharti thrived on compressing complex scientific concepts for the understanding of the layperson, in their vernacular language. As MP, he introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha on the freedom of religion, proposing that children be taught about all religions till the age of 18. Once they hit the age of maturity, only then should they be allowed to choose a religion of their choice.

Manish said his grandfather led by example. He did not conduct the kanyadaan of his daughter and clearly stated in his will that after his death, Parliament must not refer to him as “swargiya” (one who has gone to heaven) while mourning him, and nor should they maintain two minutes of silence for “atma ko shanti” or peace to his soul. These ideas went against his principles, Manish said.

Bharti was also influenced by Marxist and Leninist philosophies. To better understand Russian literature, he even learnt Russian – one of the six languages he knew – from the wife of a Russian diplomat in Delhi, said Manish.

An illustration printed on the cover of an Arjak Sangh book. Titled ‘Brahmanvad’, it depicts a tree meant to be cut whose parts symbolise Brahmanism. Photo by arrangement.

Humanist society in place of a Brahmanical society

The Arjak Sangh believes in building a humanist society where people are equal and treat each other equally. It endorses inter-dining and inter-caste marriage and stands against discrimination and untouchability. “The Arjak Sangh wants to establish a Manavvadi [humanist] society in place of a Brahmanical one,” Shiv Kumar said.

‘Arjak’ literally means one who earns his or her living through physical labour. In other words, it denotes farmers, manual workers, labourers, artisans and all kinds of creators.

It views physical labour as supreme, acknowledging its role in production and construction. Only Dalits, OBCs, tribals and Muslims – the Arjak communities – are allowed to become members.

Shiv Kumar felt that at the core of Hinduism is Brahmanism, created and sustained solely for the benefit of Brahmins.

“Shouldn’t all followers of one religion be equal? How can it be a religion if people of the same religion are not considered equal and don’t marry each other?” asked Shiv Kumar.

He states other examples to underline this aspect of discrimination and hierarchy within the Hindu religion towards the downtrodden castes and Dalits. Dalits are still beaten for riding horses during weddings processions, maintaining moustaches or wearing neat clothes, and are urinated upon by members of the so-called upper castes.

Verma considered Brahmanical sanskars (rites) as ‘tools of exploitation’ and believed they were designed to ensure that the priestly castes enjoyed the pleasures of life without any physical toil.

A diagram of two trees side by side, labelled as ‘Brahmanvad (Problem)’ and ‘Manavwad (Solution)’, acts as a visual representation of the Arjak objective.

The first picture shows a farmer in a dhoti chopping down a tree (Brahmanvad). The tree’s roots are labelled as rebirth, its trunk as fatalism, its branches as the Varna system, its leaves as castes, its flowers as discrimination and its fruits as oppression. On the other end, a person is seen watering a different tree named Manavvad. The roots of this tree are materialism, trunk equality, branches democracy, leaves socialism, flowers happiness and fruits prosperity.

A man stands in front of an ‘Arjak Gate’. The ‘two trees’ can be seen on either side of the gate. Photo: Special arrangement.

Calendar of secular festivals aimed at weakening sway of religious rituals

Since its inception, a major challenge for the Arjak Sangh was the grip of religious festivals and rituals over the lives of people, especially the backward castes and Dalits. Well-aware that it would be difficult to completely detach people from the idea of festivals, Verma provided an alternative set of festivals and rites cut off from Hindu tradition.

Today, the Arjak Sangh calendar comprises 14 “humanist festivals” which celebrate the birthdays and death anniversaries of icons of social change, constitutional milestones of the country and agricultural seasons.

Apart from celebrating Independence Day and Republic Day, the Arjak Sangh remembers March 1 as Ulhas Day to mark the harvest of the rabi crop and October 1 as Labh Day to celebrate harvest of kharif crops. Buddha Jayanti is Manavta Diwas, while Ambedkar Jayanti is Chetna Diwas. The birth anniversary of Dravidian thinker E.V. Ramasamy, immortalised as Periyar, is celebrated as Vivek Diwas.

The Arjak Sangh’s foundation day, June 1, is observed as Samta Diwas. It commemorates the death anniversaries of Jyotiba Phule (Shakti Diwas) and Babu Jagdeo Prasad (Shaheed Diwas) as well as the birth anniversaries of Birsa Munda (Jagriti Diwas) and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Ekta Diwas).

After Verma passed away in 1998, the outfit started celebrating his birthday (August 22) as Kranti Diwas. Bharti’s birthday (November 3) is honoured as Science Day, a testimony to his struggles toward the promotion of scientific temper.

The Arjak Sangh allows its followers to participate in only two sanskars – a marriage ceremony and mourning for the dead. Verma believed that these rituals were essential for humankind and its social existence.

How Arjak weddings are conducted has already been described above. The second sanskar pertains to death and mourning. Instead of elaborate Brahmanical rituals, Arjak members conduct a ‘shokh sabha’ on the seventh day after death. Mourners gather to remember the departed and the family is provided a ‘death certificate’ recording how and when the person died. The Arjak Sangh strongly opposes the expenses incurred by Hindus in post-death rituals, especially mrityu bhoj (feasts) held in the memory of their dear ones.

Shiv Kumar pictures this as a “big net of rituals” spread by the Brahmanical system to cash in on everything from birth to death.

“From the charpoy to the utensils, mattress, cows and buffaloes belonging to the deceased person; all had to be given to the Brahmins, who said they would give it to the dead in heaven,” said Shiv Kumar.

“Verma ji understood that these rituals were about the exploitation of the arjak by the non-arjaks and caused them a financial burden,” he added.

Jitendra Patel, 33-year-old Congress worker from Ambedkar Nagar, married in the Arjak tradition last year. He said that in the past, the organisation had used wedding ceremonies as platforms to criticise Brahmanism and spread their worldview.

“They knew that a large number of people attend such personal affairs. So they began putting up a stage with a microphone and went all out against Brahmanism, in the garb of the wedding ceremony. I didn’t agree with this because people of all kinds attend wedding ceremonies,” said Patel.

The Arjak Sangh celebrates its silver jubilee in Lucknow on June 1, 2018. Photo: Omar Rashid.

State support to religious dogmas remains a challenge

Shiv Kumar sees caste hierarchy as an impediment to the country’s progress. “Just like a field that is uneven does not produce a good harvest, a society that is not equal cannot produce a strong nation,” he said.

The Arjak Sangh today remains a fringe movement. The charm of Hindutva and Hindu cultural identity remains a social and political challenge. Starker expressions of communal identities over the years have been encouraged by the rise of political Hindutva, especially with the coming to power of the BJP.

Some scholars have termed the inclination of marginalised Hindu castes towards strident Hindutva as the ‘saffronisation’ or Hinduisation of the marginalised castes. This has coincided with the stagnation and decrease in the political power of Ambedkarite parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which could have provided the Arjak Sangh with the relevant ideological ecosystem to sustain itself and grow.

Shiv Kumar rues that the Indian state has actively supported religious ideas and outfits. The mass lighting of diyas on Diwali in Ayodhya and the annual state-sponsored kanwar yatras – where government officials shower flower petals on pilgrims and even massage their feet – are just two instances in recent times when the state has indulged Hindu believers for political goals.

The kanwar yatra, according to anecdotal evidence, is predominantly attended by OBCs and Dalits. This comes as a concern to the Arjak Sangh.

Over several conversations with Shiv Kumar, I sought to know from him why these communities find Hindutva so fascinating and have not been able to wriggle out of the clutches of Brahmanical Hindutva if it is so oppressive.

His responses were pessimistic. The spirits of heaven, hell, destiny, re-birth and afterlife have only gotten stronger in the hearts of the people, said Shiv Kumar.

“People are told that in their previous life they didn’t do enough ‘punya’ and ‘daan dakshina’ (religious charity) and that is why they are poor and were born into a low caste. That is why they face all the suffering. If in this life, they do some daan dakshina and dharam karam (religious acts) as per the path shown by the pandits, they will not only find heaven, but also be born into a richer and higher caste in the next life. Their minds are filled with this on a daily basis. They are entangled 365 days a year, making them believe that it is real.”

Shiv Kumar pins the blame on influential people and political icons in furthering these beliefs among the masses. He refers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in 2014, when he had explained Lord Ganesha’s having an elephant’s head as an instance of plastic surgery in ancient times.

In 2023, ISRO chairperson S. Somanath reportedly claimed that algebra, square roots, conceptions of time and aviation were among the knowledge already available in the Vedas much before they were claimed as discoveries by the Western world.

While the current government has played a big role in promoting Brahmanical ideas and a Hindutva view of life, the previous governments  have also done so.

Arjak Sangh members outside their office in Kanpur Dehat. Photo by arrangement.

At the root of this is that the Indian state has been inclined towards Brahminical ideas and has nourished them in a number of ways, argued Shiv Kumar.

Indira Gandhi, for instance, had called for state-sponsored celebrations of the 400th year of the writing of the Ramcharitmanas, something that Verma vehemently opposed at that time.

“If the state supports a scientific way of life, the society will also think that way,” said Shiv Kumar.

After Verma’s death in the 1990s, the Arjak movement started declining amid the absence of a charismatic leader. His shoes have been too big to fill.

Frequent police cases and arrests also started deterring people from participating in Arjak activities. On April 30, 1978, on Verma’s call, Arjak Sangh volunteers burned copies of the Ramcharitmanas and Manusmriti in Kanpur Dehat to build awareness among the masses, in one of its historic moments that is still talked about in the ‘social justice’ circles of North India.

Shiv Kumar was himself jailed as he had been brave enough to put his name on the pamphlets distributed against the Ramcharitmanas.

For his troubles, he was suspended for five years from the post of lecturer in a senior secondary college, but was reinstated later by the Allahabad high court.

“There was even an attempt on my life inside prison from those whose sentiments were hurt,” said Shiv Kumar.

On the other hand, he said, whenever Arjak Sangh people go to file cases against what they say are objectionable materials being disseminated about lower castes through religious sermons and text, they are not entertained.

“They don’t lodge our FIRs even if our complaints are based on upholding constitutional values. Our people started breaking away due to the criminal cases and threats of being jailed. Earlier, there was not much torture in the police stations. But today we find that every police station has a temple,” said Shiv Kumar.

The Arjak Sangh has no restrictions on food as long as it is not banned by the law. They do not consider the cow holy.

Shiv Kumar explains that the Arjak Sangh’s atheistic views are not based on the rejection of Hindu deities, but on a deeper conviction towards believing in material things and disowning beliefs that have no evidence.

“We believe in what exists. A stone exists, so we believe in it. God doesn’t exist, so we don’t believe in it. Heaven doesn’t exist, so we don’t believe in it. Those who believe in god are actually nastiks. They believe in what doesn’t exist. If astronauts and scientists can go all the way to the Moon, why have they never been to heaven?” asked Shiv Kumar.

Manish felt the Arjak movement did not grow as it became stuck in the rut of exposing Brahmanism, something that Ambedkarites were already doing efficiently. Lack of funds, poor membership and weak organisation also prevented the outfit from becoming more visible and organising bigger events. Manish said the rigid approach of the outfit’s old guard is partly to be blamed.

“New people are not connecting with us. The Arjak Sangh is unable to connect with the new generation due to its lacklustre rhetoric and ways of communication,” he said.

Jitendra Verma added that the movement has also been consumed by the very demon it stepped out to exorcise: caste sentiments.

Since Verma was born into a Kurmi backward caste peasant family, over time, the Arjak Sangh has also come to be associated mostly with the community, limiting its appeal among others.

But on the other hand, it is also true that the outfit remains popular among Yadavs, Kachis, Koeris and Lodhis.

Arjak Sangh members with Shiv Kumar Bharti (extreme right) in Auraiya, UP during a recent event as part of the outfit’s campaign for reforms in education. Photo: Special arrangement.

Shiv Kumar felt that the penetration of caste identity is a result of a growing jati bhavna (caste sentiment) that makes people latch onto a leader of their own caste. As a consequence, today, even within the Arjak Sangh, members pick their icons according to their caste. Kurmis mostly celebrate Verma’s birthday, while Koeris remember Shaheed Jagdeo Prasad on his shaheed diwas. Yadavs celebrate Lalai Yadav’s jayanti. Saini and Mali castes remember Jyotiba Phule and Pal, while Baghel and Gadaria shepherd castes remember Periyar.

Patel also argues that the BJP’s dominance over the political narrative has kept its opposition busy with the task of tackling Hindutva, thereby reducing the available workforce and ideological faculties to sustain a cultural movement against Brahmanism.

The Arjak Sangh prohibits members of political parties or caste-based outfits or mahasabhas from affiliating with it, in a bid to remain non-political. This “rigid” stance restricts membership, felt Patel, whose decision to join the Congress was not taken positively by the outfit.

“The RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] does not restrict its members from participating in any political party work. It does not impact their ideological work. It only helps them,” said Patel.

Shiv Kumar views caste identity as a form of Brahmanism.

“Those who want a Hindu rashtra and give preference to Hindu dharma are the ones providing support to this rise of castes. Till castes remain, Hindu dharma will stay. Hindu dharma is nothing other than castes. Keeping the caste system is the main business of Brahmins and Hindu dharma,” said Shiv Kumar.

Given the socio-political environment it works in, the Arjak Sangh is often accused of being anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. Its detractors say it does not talk enough about the social ills in other religions.

Shiv Kumar argues that before talking about others, it is best to reform one’s own society.

The Arjak Sangh also does not get enough credit for its efforts towards changing mindsets due to the slow nature of these processes. Its role in watering the field for the political growth of Kanshi Ram and his BSP is also understated.

Many Arjak thinkers, including Manish, believe that the rise of Kanshi Ram and his outfits, and eventually, the BSP, led to the downfall of the Arjak Sangh. Since their ideologies aligned to a large extent, the organisational and political heft that the BSP mustered allowed it to woo those opposed to caste, including Arjak-aligned people.

Shiv Kumar, however, felt that the Arjak movement’s impact is there to see, especially in the way different castes behave with each other. There was a time when people would refuse to sit or dine with people of other castes, he said.

“Vermaji gave people the mantra to implement a manavvadi sanskriti through interaction, and sitting and dining together. Due to the Arjak Sangh’s movement, even ‘chota se chota aadmi‘, who is called inferior and lowly in the Brahmanical system, ends wedding processions and feasts in our area. The charan sparsh (touching of feet) of Brahmins has also reduced.”

But this does not mean that people start following the Arjak Sangh blindly, added Shiv Kumar. Their conviction towards the Arjak way of life must be based on evidence and rationality not mere affiliation. “Jano, tab mano,” goes one of the Arjak Sangh’s principal ideals. First understand, then believe.

Row Over Muslim MLAs Invited to Haridwar Foundation Day Event at Har-ki-Pauri

As per protocol, the Haridwar district administration extended invitations to local MLAs, including BSP MLA Mohammad Shahzad from Laksar and Congress MLAs Furqan Ahmed and Qazi Nizamuddin from Piran Kaliyar and Manglaur, respectively. However, none of the MLAs attended the event.

New Delhi: A dispute arose in Haridwar after the district administration invited three Muslim MLAs to attend a state foundation day celebration at the Har-ki-Pauri ghat. The invitation drew objections from the Ganga Sabha, which oversees the historic site, citing a long-standing rule barring “non-Hindus” from entering the ghat – a restriction reportedly established under the Haridwar Municipal Act of 1935 during British rule.

The event was held on Monday, November 11, with chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and several BJP leaders in attendance. As per protocol, the Haridwar district administration extended invitations to local MLAs, including BSP MLA Mohammad Shahzad from Laksar and Congress MLAs Furqan Ahmed and Qazi Nizamuddin from Piran Kaliyar and Manglaur, respectively. However, none of the MLAs attended the event.

A Ganga Sabha member confirmed to the Times of India that “some issues were raised,” but declined to elaborate, saying only that “everything went well.” Meanwhile, Anuj Walia, state coordinator for the Bajrang Dal, expressed strong opposition to the MLAs’ invitations. “Har-ki-Pauri is a holy place for Hindus, and entry of Muslims is not allowed there,” he told the Times of India. Walia claimed the administration acknowledged the error and assured that such an invitation would not be extended in the future.

The boycott from the three MLAs appeared to be unrelated to the controversy. Nizamuddin clarified that he and Furqan Ahmed were both out of the state, campaigning in Maharashtra for the upcoming assembly elections. “My party has given me a key role for the Maharashtra assembly elections and I have been campaigning for the party for the past few weeks. Furqan Ahmed is also campaigning in Maharashtra,” Nizamuddin told the Times of India.

Shahzad downplayed the right-wing opposition to the Times of India, saying, “We don’t care about the resistance by right-wing outfits as they are working on a propaganda to polarise the society. We know the sanctity of Ganga and Har-ki-Pauri and as residents of Haridwar district, we respect it.” He also noted his reluctance to attend government events due to previous experiences, alleging they are often “hijacked” by BJP leaders who sideline other elected representatives. He criticised the event’s focus, arguing that funds could have been better allocated for development work rather than ceremonial gatherings.

Haridwar district magistrate Karmendra Singh defended the invitations, stating that the administration was simply following standard protocol for district MLAs, while also being mindful of the Ganga Sabha’s concerns, according to a Times of India report.

Munambam Land Dispute Mired in Legal, Religious and Social Complexities

The legal wrangling over this property has thrown over 600 families into uncertainty, as they face the threat of eviction.

The dispute over Waqf land in Munambam, Kerala, has become a minefield of growing tensions, especially as the state gears up for three crucial by-elections. The competing campaigns of Kerala’s major political fronts – the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – have intensified efforts to mobilise public opinion, each seeking to capitalise on the issue for political gain. At its core, this conflict involves 404.76 acres of land originally endowed as Waqf property for Farook College in 1950. The legal wrangling over this property has thrown over 600 families into uncertainty, as they face the threat of eviction. The dispute not only stirs communal sentiments but also highlights the complex dimensions of historical property rights, Islamic legal principles and modern legal frameworks.

Waqf in Islamic law

The concept of “Waqf” in Islamic jurisprudence refers to the irrevocable dedication of property for religious, charitable or educational purposes. Under the Hanafi school of thought, which the Kutchi Memon community in Kerala follows, once a property is declared as Waqf, it is considered to belong to God and cannot be sold, transferred or inherited. The property must continue to serve the public good perpetually, managed by a trustee (mutawalli) who oversees its proper use according to Islamic principles.

However, the Hanafi school does provide exceptions under specific conditions. For instance, if the original charitable intent of the Waqf cannot be fulfilled due to financial constraints or other practical challenges, modification or even sale might be permissible. This flexibility, however, is tightly regulated to prevent misuse. The question of whether the Munambam property, endowed to Farook College in 1950, fits within this framework has been a central point of legal contention, particularly since the deed contained a conditional clause that if the college ceased to operate, the land would revert to the original donor’s heirs.

Genesis of the dispute

The origins of the Munambam Waqf property in Vypin Island (under Ernakulam district) can be traced back to the early 20th century. The Kutchi Memons, a trading community from Gujarat, migrated to Kerala and established a foothold in the Cochin-Travancore regions. In 1902, Abdul Sattar, a prominent member of the Memons, was granted a lease for over 400 acres of land in Munambam by the princely state that controlled the land. This land, in a significant agricultural and coastal area, was formally registered in 1948 by his close relative, Mohammed Siddique Sait.

In 1950, Siddique Sait endowed the land to Farook College through a Waqf deed. The deed stipulated that the property was to be used exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. However, the deed also contained a unique conditionality: if the college ceased its operations, the land would revert to Sait’s heirs. This clause introduced ambiguity regarding the absolute nature of the Waqf, complicating subsequent legal interpretations.

Also read: ‘Waqf Board Members Are Quasi-Judicial Officers, Religion Doesn’t Factor Into Their Decision’: SC

Evolution of Waqf laws in India

To understand the legal framework surrounding this dispute, it is crucial to review the evolution of Waqf laws in India.The Waqf Act of 1954 was the first comprehensive attempt to regulate the management of Waqf properties across India. It established state Waqf boards to oversee the administration of these properties and prevent misuse. Amendments to the Waqf Act in 1995 introduced stricter controls to prevent unauthorised sale or transfer of Waqf properties. Sections 51-56 of the Act explicitly prohibit the sale or alienation of Waqf land without the prior approval of the Waqf Board. The 2013 amendmentfurther strengthened these provisions by imposing penalties for non-compliance and streamlining procedures for reclaiming encroached properties.

The Kerala Waqf Rules, specifically Rule 95, empower the chief executive officer of the Waqf Board to conduct inquiries into unauthorised sales and encroachments. If the CEO determines that a property was improperly sold, the board can order its recovery. These legal provisions have been invoked in the ongoing Munambam dispute, where the Waqf Board is attempting to reclaim land allegedly sold without authorisation by Farook College.

Role of Farook College

Farook College, one of Kerala’s leading educational institutions, was initially entrusted with the Waqf land to support its educational mission. However, over the decades, the college management engaged in transactions that have since been deemed unauthorised. There was also a serious lapse on the part of the college to register the property with the Waqf Board in time.

In a controversial development, the college’s managing committee granted a power of attorney to advocate M.V. Paul in December 1998, authorising the sale of portions of the Waqf property. This action violated Waqf regulations, which required prior approval from the Waqf Board for any transfer or sale of Waqf properties. The unauthorised transactions led to legal disputes and were later deemed void.

A complaint filed in 2008 by a former Waqf Board member brought these unauthorised transactions to light. An investigation led by Justice M.A. Nisar in 2009 confirmed that the sales violated the terms of the original Waqf deed. But, both the government and the Farook College failed to take any action on this. The findings, however, prompted the Kerala State Waqf Board to issue an order in 2019, formally registering the land as Waqf property and declaring the previous sale void.

Legal challenges over the years

In the 1960s, disputes over the control of the land began to surface, with tenants challenging Farook College’s authority. In 1967, a case was filed in the Subordinate Judge’s Court in Paravur, questioning the Waqf status of the land. The court ruled in favour of Farook College in 1971, confirming that the property was indeed Waqf land dedicated to educational purposes. This ruling was upheld by the Kerala High Court in 1975, thereby reinforcing the Waqf status of the land.

Despite these rulings, Farook College’s management continued to engage in land transactions under the pretext that the land was only a “gift deed.” The Kerala high court took notice of these activities when petitions were filed challenging the legality of the sales. In response to the Waqf Board’s 2019 registration of the land, residents who had purchased plots from the college filed petitions claiming that the Waqf Board’s actions infringed on their property rights. They argued that the original Waqf deed did not explicitly transfer ownership to the Waqf Board but rather vested rights with the managing committee of the college.

In 2022, a single bench of the Kerala high court briefly allowed residents to resume paying property taxes, which was seen as a move towards validating their claims to the land. However, this ruling was swiftly stayed following an appeal by the Kerala Waqf Protection Forum, which argued that continued tax payments would complicate the Waqf Board’s efforts to reclaim the property.

Amid growing agitation, the Kerala high court recently directed the state and union governments to file a counter affidavit in response to a petition filed by the residents of Munambam challenging certain provisions of the Waqf Act. The petition was filed by Joseph Benny and seven others from Munambam who had purchased land from the managing committee of Farook College, Kozhikode. They alleged that the Waqf Board was taking steps to evict them and 600 other families saying the land belonged to it. The revenue officials had refused to mutate land documents at the request of the chief executive officers of the Waqf Board.

Stance of ruling and opposition parties

Further adding to the precariousness of the situation, in December 2022, the LDF Minister in-charge of Waqf, V. Abdurahman responded to a submission by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader K.P.A. Majeed, affirming the government’s stance to reclaim what he asserted as Waqf land. Yet, interestingly, both LDF and IUML leaders have since changed their positions, publicly expressing support for the affected families and questioning the land’s Waqf status, a rhetorical somersault likely influenced by the looming bye-elections.

Even as land dispute has become a significant political issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began capitalising the situation to challenge both the CPI(M)-led LDF government and the Congress-led UDF opposition. The BJP has framed itself as a defender of property rights, appealing to the Christian and fishing communities who are at risk of eviction. This strategy aligns with the party’s broader agenda to question the constitutionality of Waqf laws.

The BJP’s campaign has gained traction, particularly after the catholic church voiced concerns over Waqf encroachments on community properties. The Sangh Parivar has argued that the pending Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, would protect residents’ property rights. However, the proposed bill primarily aims to streamline the management of Waqf properties and curb administrative mismanagement, not to resolve historical disputes. The Sangh Parivar’s claim that the Waqf Amendment Bill of 2024 will address the Munambam dispute is misguided.

The dispute is rooted in the specific terms of the 1950 deed, which included a clause allowing the property to revert to the original donor’s heirs if the college ceased operations. This condition challenges the absolute nature of the Waqf under Islamic law, making it difficult to address through generic legislative amendments.

Toward a balanced resolution?

Plausibly, all parties now agree that the rights of the longstanding residents of the Munambam coast must be respected, as their deep-rooted connection to the land cannot be dismissed. These families, having lived there for decades, should not face eviction. However, amid this complex dispute, it must be noted, widespread encroachments have taken place, with numerous tourist resorts capitalising on the area’s growing appeal. Many of these resorts and other vested interests are exploiting the ongoing agitation, using the plight of residents to shield their own unauthorised land occupations.

In response, the Kerala government has convened meetings with the relevant ministries, officials, and the Waqf Board to address this issue comprehensively. It seems imperative that these discussions urgently assess the legal standing of the residents, particularly those who hold legitimate title deeds. Ensuring their rights is crucial. At the same time, any illegally occupied portions must be identified and reclaimed, allowing the remaining Waqf land to be restored and safeguarded in accordance with existing laws. The resolution of this matter will also depend on the forthcoming decisions of the Kerala High Court, which is currently reviewing multiple petitions from different stakeholders.

A timely settlement is vital to restoring communal harmony and fostering mutual coexistence in Kerala. For the affected families, the stakes are not just legal but deeply personal, rooted in their right to continue living in their ancestral homes. To resolve this dispute, more than legislative interventions are needed. A constructive dialogue between the Kerala government, the Waqf Board, and the affected communities is essential to reach a fair and lasting solution. A pragmatic approach would be to recognise the rights of those with valid title deeds while also ensuring that the original charitable objectives of the Waqf are honoured.

The author is Director, Inter University Centre for Social Science Research and Extension (IUCSSRE), Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Kerala. He also served as ICSSR Senior Fellow, Senior Professor of International Relations and Dean of Social Sciences at MGU.

AMU’s Minority Status Not Lost Simply Because It Was Incorporated With a Statute: Supreme Court

The majority opinion was read by CJI Chandrachud, on what is his last working day. In addition to him, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra were part of the 4:3 majority.

New Delhi: A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court in a 4:3 majority ruling has held that the Aligarh Muslim University’s minority status is not lost simply because it was incorporated through a statute. This judgment could pave the way for a regular bench of the court to declare AMU a minority institution.

The judgement overrules the 1967 judgment of the apex court in the case S. Azeez Basha vs. Union Of India, which held that an institution incorporated by a statute cannot claim to be a minority institution.

AMU was established through an imperial legislation – the Aligarh Muslim University Act – in 1920.

The constitution bench that delivered the verdict today had Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, J.B. Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and S.C. Sharma.

In 2006, the Allahabad high court had held that AMU was not a minority institution. The apex court heard a reference arising out of this verdict, earlier this year and reserved judgement.

The majority opinion was read by CJI Chandrachud, on what is his last working day. In addition to him, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra were part of the majority opinion.

LiveLaw has reported that the majority held that the court must examine who established the University and who was the “brain” behind it. “If that enquiry is pointing towards minority community, then the institution can claim minority status as per Article 30. For this factual determination, the constitution bench relegated the matter to a regular bench,” the report said.

AMU will be able to provide reservation of up to 50% for Muslim students if it is deemed a minority institution.

The court considered the question of what can be the basis of treating an educational institution as a minority educational institution – whether its founder or administrators’ religious or linguistic identity is to be considered.

Merely because the AMU was incorporated by an imperial legislation would not mean that it was not ‘established’ by a minority, the majority opinion held.

Would Narendra Modi Consider Dr B.R. Ambedkar an ‘Urban Naxal’?

In cautioning us at the threshold of the making of our constitution, when he stressed that were the goals of equality, and fraternity not achieved, the whole democratic experiment could be in jeopardy, was Ambedkar declaring himself a potential ‘urban Naxal’?

At the conclusion of the drafting of the Indian constitution, the chairman of the drafting committee, and its chief architect, Dr.B.R. Ambedkar noted: “On 26th January, 1950, we are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.”

Seventy five years from then, these contradictions continue to plague the realm.

Socially, vast numbers of citizens remain ostracised on the ground. In large parts of rural India as well as remote urban corners, inter-marrying and even inter-dining among castes can draw heavy punishment.

The principle of “purity” – an esoteric concept which has little to do with hygiene – still afflicts highly educated and highly placed scions of the upper castes.

Not long ago, a judge of a higher court had the entire premises of the court “purified” with “Ganga jal” (holy waters of the Ganga river) because the preceding incumbent had been a Shudra.

Despite constitutional guarantees, Hindu places of worship often remain out of bounds for sections of Hindu society.

The list of exclusions is long and may not be belaboured.

Daily newspapers continue to give us stories of young men suffocating in poisonous drains while sent to clean them without the equipment they ought to have for the job, while the honourable prime minister once instructed the nation how these citizens know that they are performing a higher, spiritual function.

In economic life, some 80% of Indians have negligible representation at levels of control in structures of power, be it in educational institutions, bureaucracy, high-powered commissions, or any other state institution of clout, including law-enforcement and the judiciary.

Ambedkar’s prescient observation thus continues to be valid as Indian rockets hit the moon and as expatriate Indians achieve high proficiency and material status in foreign lands

In thus cautioning us at the threshold of the making of our constitution, when he stressed that were the goals of equality, and fraternity not achieved, not to speak of liberty, the whole democratic experiment could be in jeopardy, was Ambedkar declaring himself a potential ‘urban Naxal’?

If not, why is it then that when Rahul Gandhi and many millions of concerned and public-spirited citizens who hold fast to a constitutional regime underscore the very same posers that Ambedkar had left us with are dubbed “urban Naxals” and enemies of the nation by no less a person than Prime Minister Modi?

Is it the case of the state that the contradictions that Ambedkar had underscored have been resolved, leaving no residues of social and economic inequality?

If not, does the constitution forbid parties and individuals from raising these matters as the substance of their public duties and public ideals?

Dividing Hindus

Right-wing sophistry currently propagates that invoking these matters is motivated by the sinister conspiracy to divide Hindu society.

Question: was there a time when Hindu society was not divided?

Were that not so, why, pray, would no less than the chieftain of Sanatan society, Mohan Bhagwat express publicly the honest lament that for two thousand years “we” (meaning the upper castes) have treated them (meaning the Shudra samaj) like “animals”.

After that candid acknowledgement that it is not some others – and not the Muslims – who have caused divisions among Hindus but Hindus themselves, what doubt remains on this score?

It is not a likely caste-census advocated by most non-savarna segments of Hindu society which therefore threatens to divide Hindus; they have been already divided for millennia on end by the religious establishment and instructions of the twice – born.

If castes had not existed, why, pray, would Ambedkar have felt compelled to give us his treatise on The Annihilation of Caste, one which the custodians of Sanatan who are now up in arms against never really took up for implementation?

The fact is that these custodians do not ever mean to rid Sanatan society of caste divides, only to conceal them; this for the reason that so much of their hegemonic interest of the material kind rests on the internal divisions of he Hindu society.

Thus, should a caste-census truly happen, the unlovely skeletons of the Sanatan formation may tumble out, leading to the grievous distortion that, after all, it is not Muslims who are the enemies of Sanatan but the Sanatan arrangement itself.

What wonder then that a Rahul Gandhi or Akhilesh Yadav who seem to have such a census on their agenda have become the bêtes noires today of the Sanatan; and what better way to further malign them than to dub them “urban Naxals” who mean to dismantle the Sanatan state.

And, for the same reason, the Sanatan which at one time refused to accept the Ambedkar constitution finds it expedient to accuse the duo of using the constitution to their devious unravelling purposes.

Meanwhile, the minuscule leadership from among the non-Brahmanical castes who find themselves today in positions of authority have a difficult call to take: do they continue to collaborate with the Sanatan or do they go over to the side of those who seek to effect a scrutiny of facts on the Hindu ground.

That they seem at ease in keeping their counsel on the rabid sectarian blasts now unleashed by the right-wing without let or hindrance, or the least regard for the injunctions of the constitution is there for all to see. A secular Nitish Kumar seems to have no difficulty with the Hindu Swabhiman Yatra now being conducted across Muslim-inhabited areas of Bihar by a Union minister, Giriraj Singh, who has no doubt sworn an oath on the constitution never to discriminate between castes or creeds. And so forth.

Nor do institutions of state commissioned to uphold the foundational values of the constitution seem in any hurry to intervene as a gale of majoritarian invective greets the nation every day across the Hindi belt.

Even as a canny media relentlessly sees the virtues of current-day governance to the exclusion of any merit in critiques of its warts and moles.

Think: if Socrates was made to drink hemlock, what is a Rahul Gandhi or an Akhilesh Yadav? Ambedkar had said a constitution will be only as good or not as the people charged to implement it. A prophetic enumeration of our times indeed.

Badri Raina taught at Delhi University.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

‘Throwing the Baby Out With the Bathwater’: What the SC Said on the HC’s Verdict on the UP Madarsa Act

The Allahabad high court had in March struck down the Madarsa Act on a petition filed by a lawyer, Anshuman Singh Rathore, who had submitted that the legislation violated secularism.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today, November 5, upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Act, 2004, the legislation through which madarsas are governed in the state. The apex court set aside a judgment of the Allahabad high court which had earlier this year declared the Act as unconstitutional, ruling that it violated the principle of secularism.

The high court had struck down the entirety of the Act, which regulated the standard of education, qualifications for teachers and conduct of examinations in madarsas.

A bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, while setting aside the high court ruling, said the Madarsa Act was “consistent with the positive obligation of the State to ensure that students studying in recognized Madarsas attain a level of competency which will allow them to effectively participate in society and earn a living.”

The Supreme Court decided against striking down the entire legislation even though it found that certain provisions in the Madarsa Act, which pertain to the regulation of higher education and the conferment of such degrees, were unconstitutional on the ground of lack of legislative competence.

“Thus, the question that arises is whether the entire legislation must be struck down on this ground. In our view, it is in failing to adequately address this question of severability that the High Court falls into error and ends up throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” the court said in its 70-page-judgment.

The Uttar Pradesh government, headed by chief minister Adityanath, informed the court that around 12.35 lakh students were studying in 13,364 madarsas across the state.

Of these, as many as 1.92 lakh students were enrolled in in 560 state funded madrasas; 4.37 lakh students were receiving education in 3,834 non-state funded permanently recognised madarsas and 6.04 lakh students were studying in 8,970 non-state funded temporarily recognised madarsas.

‘State cannot hide behind the lame excuse…’

The Allahabad high court had in March struck down the Madarsa Act on a petition filed by a lawyer, Anshuman Singh Rathore, who had submitted that the legislation violated secularism and failed to provide quality compulsory education up to the age of 14 years or class 8, as was mandatorily required to be provided under Article 21-A of the constitution. The high court bench, while ruling the Act as unconstitutional, had observed that the ““denial” of modern education and quality of education in madarsas violated constitutional norms mandating free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to 14.

“While the students of all other religions are getting educated in all modern subject denial of the same quality by the Madrasa Board amounts to violation of both Article 21-A as well as Article 21 of the constitution of India. The State cannot hide behind the lame excuse that it is fulfilling its duty by providing traditional education on nominal fee,” the HC said.

The high court had ruled that the Madarsa Act was “violative of the principle of Secularism, which is a part of the basic structure” of the constitution. The Act was violative of Articles 14, 21 and 21-A of the constitution and Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, the court said.

The high court’s decision was challenged in the Supreme Court by various stakeholders including madarsa associations. The Supreme Court concluded that the Madarsa Act regulates the standard of education in Madarsas recognised by the Board for imparting Madarsa education.

‘State government can enact regulations’

The apex court also said that Article 21-A, which mandates free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to 14, and the Right to Education, have to be read consistently with the right of religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. “The Board with the approval of the State government can enact regulations to ensure that religious minority institutions impart secular education of a requisite standard without destroying their minority character,” the Supreme Court said.

The apex court ruled that the Madarsa Act was within the “legislative competence” of the State legislature and traceable to Entry 25 of List III. However, the provisions of the Madarsa Act which seek to regulate higher-education degrees, such as Fazil and Kamil are unconstitutional as they are in conflict with the UGC Act, which has been enacted under Entry 66 of List I, the apex court said.

A few madarsa award certificates of Kamil (undergraduate degree) and Fazil (post-graduate degree), which the state declared were not recognised by it as alternatives to graduate and post-graduate degrees respectively. “These courses have not been given equivalence by the Government of Uttar Pradesh/Government of India/any university established by law, nor has the education of these courses been recognised as an alternative to the graduation/post-graduation degree of a university established by law for employment at the level of Uttar Pradesh Government or Government of India,” the UP government informed the court.

Tripping on Rituals: The Politics Over Use of Firecrackers in Kerala’s Religious Festivals

Kerala’s firecracker problem at its religious festivals, is characteristic of a larger political predicament the state finds itself in.

On October 28, more than 150 people were injured – eight of them seriously – in an accident involving fireworks at a temple in Kerala’s Kasaragod district. Some with serious burn injuries were on ventilator support at the time of writing this article.

Roughly eight years earlier, on April 10, 2016, an even more devastating mishap had occurred at the Puttingal temple in the state’s Kollam district, which left more than 100 people dead, hundreds injured and many houses damaged.

Sandwiched between these two incidents were remarks by a couple of ministers from the state government that amazed for its shortsightedness as well as political opportunism.

LDF ministers call safety regulations ‘irrational’

On October 21, 2024, onmanorama.com reported state revenue minister K. Rajan’s view that the central government’s latest directive on the use of pyrotechnics will affect the traditional display of fireworks at Thrissur Pooram, one of Kerala’s biggest temple festivals. He highlighted some new regulations – mostly dealing with the distance mandated between the public, fire-line, temporary sheds, fireworks site and facilities like schools and hospitals in the neighbourhood – as impossible to implement in Thrissur Pooram’s case for want of adequate space.

On October 23, a PTI report  said that Kerala’s devaswom (temple affairs) minister, V N Vasawan had called the new regulations irrational and unnecessary and written to the Centre seeking suitable modifications.

Five days later, as news of the latest mishap in Neeleswaram, Kasaragod, filtered in, one wondered what the two esteemed ministers must be thinking. According to a PTI report on the Neeleswaram fireworks accident, the district collector said that as per a preliminary probe, the fireworks storage facility and the place where the firecrackers were burst, were close by. In other words, insufficient distance.

Kerala’s firecracker problem at its religious festivals, is characteristic of a larger political predicament the state finds itself in and which has been fuelling a distinct brand of politics. Kerala is a thickly populated state. Population density is high. Buildings and human dwellings are all over the place; almost. Close to the state’s forests and in its hills, density of habitation thins out a bit. Else, it is one urban to semi-urban stretch.

There should be no difficulty in acknowledging the need to respect safety regulations when it comes to big pyrotechnics displays – especially in urban and semi-urban environments – because the risk of damage to life and property is high. Sadly, in Kerala’s emergent political brew, common sense is easily suspended.

Heady mix of ritualistic religion and politics

A good example of it are big religious festivals. Thrissur Pooram is merely an example. The ministers were quick to highlight how it was impacted by the Centre’s new regulations and consequently demanded modification to rules. Faith in its inflexible, ritualistic avatar is ideal substratum to shape into election-winning politics.

This is why India loves the heady mix of ritualistic religion and politics. It ensures political parties that indulge the religious and ritualistic, a sticky following. It is also likely why the two Kerala ministers, despite them being a part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, informed the faithful quickly about how the new regulations may impact the Pooram.

Two emergent issues will help put all this in perspective. Kerala temple festivals, showcasing elephants and massive fireworks displays, have always drawn fans and critics alike. Its fans, some of them strongly revering tradition, live in their own world of elephant-emperors and high decibel fireworks displays.

Critics of this tradition, quote animal rights and air and noise pollution. Thrissur Pooram has both a massive line-up of elephants and a finale composed of a large fireworks display. In April 2024, the year’s Thrissur Pooram was nearing its concluding phase and the annual fireworks finale, when an alleged misunderstanding between the police and the festival/temple authorities over managing the fireworks display, led to a brief suspension of proceedings.

Since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were set to happen shortly and campaigning for it was already underway, the reaction to the incident was instantly political. Thrissur was seen as a constituency where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may pull off a win. Its candidate, film actor turned politician, Suresh Gopi – he eventually won the election and is currently a union minister – was sighted arriving for discussions that night (following the festival’s disruption) in an ambulance, in a zone otherwise closed to traffic.

Gopi’s dramatic arrival was captured by television cameras. Both the brief suspension of festivities and Gopi’s alleged violation of traffic rules in place, became a controversy. Post election results, the controversy seemed to fade but it received a fresh lease of life when another controversy around the state’s additional director general of police (ADGP) and his alleged proximity to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), broke out.

Polarisation and BJP winning first Lok Sabha seat in Kerala

In LDF-ruled Kerala, the chief minister handles the home portfolio. It was alleged that the above-mentioned police officer had a role in the disruption of the Thrissur Pooram, which it was conjectured, may have polarised sentiments against the other political fronts in the fray and helped BJP secure its first parliament seat from Kerala.

Shortly after the ADGP-controversy broke, campaigning commenced in the state for one parliamentary seat (Wayanad) and two assembly seats (Palakkad and Chelakkara) as part of the November 2024 by-elections. By now, thanks to the alleged ADGP-link, the old Thrissur Pooram controversy was back in force. There were some amusing new angles too. With chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying that those claiming the Thrissur Pooram was disrupted were playing into the hands of the BJP.

The TV news of October 28 evening was all about whether the Pooram proceedings were actually disrupted in April or not. Kalangiyo (rendered turbid) athayo (or) kalangiyillayo (not rendered turbid)? – that was the question in Malayalam, channels went to town with. Meanwhile, union minister Suresh Gopi claimed he didn’t arrive in an ambulance (he even compared it to an illusion) only to be corrected by a BJP functionary who said Gopi travelled the last 100 meters or so in the ambulance.

All this, when people out on Thrissur’s streets the night of the Pooram finale, experienced the disruption and Gopi was caught on video cameras alighting from an ambulance. Gopi said that Kerala’s state police won’t be able to flesh out the truth. It was a task, for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), he quipped. Many in the electorate would have found it hard to digest that such issues and comments have become part of Kerala’s political fare.

This brings us to the fundamental reason why such a juncture has dawned in Kerala, a state once thought to favour reason, science and rationalism and was home to progressive religious thinkers. Indeed, around a week before nomination papers for the latest by-elections were filed, Aluva in central Kerala hosted a meeting to signify the 100th anniversary of a famous all-faith gathering addressed years ago by the social reformer Sri Narayana Guru, considered by many to be the greatest reformer Kerala has seen.

Mahatma Gandhi’s great grandson, Tushar Gandhi, who spoke at the function, stayed in mind for disclosing his emergent preference for atheism given how religions have conducted themselves. In Kerala’s contemporary political scenario, the meeting in Aluva, caused few ripples. It was barely noticed.

Fact is, over the past several years, a quiet transformation has taken place in Kerala politics. From being an election environment featuring two leading political fronts – LDF and the United Democratic Front (UDF) – the state has moved to three fronts.

Starting out as a small presence and also contesting the region’s elections, the BJP has become a third front in the fray even though its success in assembly and parliament elections yet, have been just two seats won in years far apart. This three-front contest is a tricky game, widely seen as favouring the BJP, because votes opposed to the Right-Wing party get split while its own loyal core stays devoted to its agenda.

The BJP’s vote share has steadily risen in Kerala and with it, that part of the electorate standing by it, has become an important constituency everyone is forced to handle with kid gloves as anything aligned with ritualistic religion and faith has the luxury of acting unquestionable or countering calls for reform with whataboutism.

LDF ministers pandering to Hindu electorate

In October 2024, when the two LDF ministers highlighted the problem posed by the new pyrotechnics-regulations, they were probably both pandering to this hyper-sensitive portion of the electorate and positioning the LDF state government as being equally concerned about the Thrissur Pooram as the BJP.

That’s also when you get weird viewpoints like minister Rajan’s opinion that since schools are shut during the Thrissur Pooram, it shouldn’t matter if the distances mandated by the new regulations can’t be met. But what if powerful fireworks exploding near a shut school leaves the building with cracks and other damages? Aren’t students thus denied access to their school as good as students denied education?

Surely the new regulations merit some discussion and not outright rejection. That is the approach of responsible organisers. On October 30, the same minister was reported in the media promising all help to those injured in the Neeleswaram incident. By November 1, Suresh Gopi was in confession mode. The day’s Mathrubhumi newspaper had a front-page report on Gopi admitting that he had indeed travelled in an ambulance on that controversial day at the 2024 Thrissur Pooram.

As the smoke and dust around the Neeleswaram mishap settled down, comprehensive news reporting began to appear. On November 1, The New Indian Express carried a detailed report, which departing from the pattern in the media seen till then of sparing the earlier mentioned LDF ministers, wrote:  “The letter written by Revenue Minister K Rajan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting to remove the stringent conditions imposed on fireworks display speaks volumes of our nonchalant approach towards human safety.’’

The article listed major accidents involving fireworks in Kerala from 1990 onward. It also mentioned about the recommendations of a panel headed by Justice P S Gopinathan (it probed the Puttingal temple accident), submitted in 2019 and since gathering dust.

Five days after the Neeleswaram incident, on November 2, the media reported that a victim of the tragedy, undergoing treatment in the hospital, had passed away.

Shyam G. Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.