Secularism, Sovereignty and Democracy ???

The three most pressing political issues in the past few months have been the Ayodhya verdict, the Kashmir conflict and the Maoist insurgency (I am going to give the CWG a miss).The preamble of our Constitution states that India is a democratic, sovereign and secular state. After considerable thought, I have been forced to evaluate this strong statement and have finally found some time to share my analysis (of this statement) on a public platform.

Starting with the Ayodhya conflict, let me unequivocally state that the Babri Masjid demolition was the most heinous and disgraceful crime committed in Independent India. Even if I was made to believe that Babur had indeed destroyed an existing Ram temple and built a masjid at the same place, there is simply no justification for fundamentalists to replicate the 'barbar' ic act of destroying a religious place. Ultimately, what is the difference between Babur and the Babri Masjid perpetrators?. The damage it has caused to society is irreparable. The ensuing Mumbai riots and the Gujarat carnage have destroyed our social fabric and planted seeds of distrust and hatred in the minds of the common man. The Saffron party has been directly involved with creating a rift between religious communities and believing that they are one of the main parties in ' secular' India is a sham.
Following the Ayodhya verdict, the TOI headlines said that the Hindus had received 2 portions of land and the Muslims had received one portion of the land. While I do concur with Mulayam Singh Yadav and my lawyer friend from Madison that the verdict chose faith and belief over law and evidence, it is inexplicable to witness a secular, democratic and sovereign nation's media projecting the issue as a religious battle.
I was recently appalled by an article which stated that a young intelligent boy was denied admission to a top Mumbai college because of his religion. Destroying the spirit of the youth is probably the biggest disservice done to a developing country and its posterity.
It is hypocritical on the part of the state ( government, media, educational institutions) to wear a mask of secularism and practice religious intolerance.

Moving on, the Armed forced ( Special forces) act in the Kashmir valley is the most outdated and uncivilized state sponsored idea. There is a clear case of violation of human rights and the act is an infringement on the sovereignty of our nation. I am sick and tired of our politicians calling for a dialogue between us and our neighbors. The purpose of a dialogue is to propose and implement actions. On the contrary, all we see is Kashmiri people losing their lives and politicians condemning militants. It has reached a sorry stage where a Kashmir crisis has become normal news and does not evoke any sympathy from the other quarters of our country. A sovereign nation would give topmost priority to providing comfort to its people rather than employ barbaric and ineffectual procedures to allay the insecurities and fears of its citizens.

And lastly, the Maoist insurgency is the biggest threat to internal security. I agree that modernization and industrialization is important to boost the economy and elevate the nation to new heights. But, should this be done at the cost of displacing villagers and tribals from their land and being indifferent to their needs ?. My ex-roommate always brought up this issue and I never quite appreciated his grave concerns. 'India shining' can be a true and believable concept only if all its citizens are prospering. A democratic state would pride on each and every citizen exercising his/ her rights. In the current turmoil, tribals have been forced to resort to violence to protect their lands from being usurped, villages from being burnt and wives/sisters from being raped by the very same gubernatorial officials who are supposed to shield them from adversity.

I understand that I am a layman and there's more to politics/ governance than what meets the eye. But, in my personal opinion,if the current state of affairs are not duly addressed, it might be time to revisit our preamble.