Hyderabad. AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defend the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 in the Supreme Court . In a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard, the Hyderabad MP said he should defend the Act as it preserves India’s diversity. Owaisi had written the letter in view of the hearing in the Supreme Court on a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Act. The top court has asked the stand of the central government on the law.
The MP wrote that it is the responsibility of the executive to protect the constitutionality of parliamentary law. He told that this act was made to protect the form in which the places of worship were on August 15, 1947. Owaisi said that the primary objective behind such a provision was to protect India’s diversity and pluralism. This was to ensure that independent India does not suffer from religious controversies that lead to permanent divisions in the society. He said it was clearly a reflection of the values of India’s freedom struggle.
The AIMIM president said that when this law was introduced in Parliament, it was said to be a necessary measure to avoid communal disputes arising out of conversion of places of worship from time to time. It was enacted as a law with the hope that it would heal the wounds of the past and help in restoring communal harmony and goodwill.
Owaisi recalled that while adjudicating the Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court had held that by enacting the 1991 Act, the state had followed its constitutional commitment and had discharged its constitutional obligations to uphold the principle of secularism, which It is part of the basic structure of the Constitution. He said that the Parliament regarded the Act as a measure to maintain communal harmony and peace and the Supreme Court called the making of the Act a sacred duty of the Parliament, which as a constitutional value, preserves and secures the equality of all religions. was given to the state.
Owaisi urged the Prime Minister not to allow the executive to take any such approach, which would affect the spirit of the Constitution, which is reflected in the Supreme Court’s decision and the objectives of making this Act.
The MP said that the top court found that the concept of ‘constitutional morality’ is embedded in our constitutional system. He also added that it is the basic rule, which prevents institutions from being autocratic, warns against the degradation of individuals in a democracy, checks the power of the state and protects minorities from the tyranny of the majority. He said that it is being tested now. I hope that the executive headed by you will work to uphold the ideal of constitutional morality and protect the 1991 Act.
Owaisi said that the Act represents the idea that one cannot indulge in endless litigation against history. Modern India cannot be a battlefield for resolving medieval disputes. It eliminates unnecessary religious disputes and protects India’s religious diversity. Therefore I urge you to preserve its sanctity. This is a serious law. (IANS)
