THE Indian nation deserves salutes for its very mature handling of the post-verdict situation in the Ayodhya case. The entire experience was one of an effort to maintain peace and harmony in the larger Indian society that was confronted with the verdict whose nature nobody knew until 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 9, 2019. Anticipated fears dominated the collective thought as the administration prepared itself for the worst of eventualities. And that preparation nationwide was based on earlier experience when the nation saw violence of worst order on most occasions of a similar nature. But, the larger Indian society handled the post-verdict situation in such a manner, with such a deep awareness of the responsibility of maintaining calm and shunning violence. And this became possible because the Government put in motion various mechanisms well in advance to build bonds of understanding among communities beyond political divide. High ranking Government officers and political functionaries engaged communities in dialogue for months to build at atmosphere of mutual respect that ultimately ensured that that nobody gave a knee-jerk reaction to the outcome of one of the most important legal battles the country saw in a long, long time.

 

All this calls for an acknowledgement by the nation. Hence our salutes to the whole nation without any reservation. This collective maturity was so endearing that we pray to the Almighty that it may one day become New India’s signature. Had such a collective understanding of the sense of responsibility not been in evidence, the country could have been in much trouble on Saturday in a post-verdict situation. But that fate did not befall India, thanks to the efforts made by people at the highest and the lowest levels of the societal pyramid.

 

This also became possible because very carefully, politics was kept away from the process of sowing peace into popular mind. This was possible because the Ram Temple issue was not allowed to be made into an election agenda in a pronounced manner when the country went to polls to elect the current Lok Sabha six months ago. The issue did come up in discussions, but was not allowed to get listed in election promises. Even when some sections tried to kick up dust on the issue, smart efforts were made successfully to ensure that the Ram Temple issues did not dominate the electoral discourse.

 

Let us not miss the moot point. Let us understand how the Government built a non-partisan narrative on three major issues -- the triple talaq issue, the Special Status to Kashmir issue, and Ram Temple issue. That was the reason why the nation took all the three decisions in its stride without much political trouble. True, there was some stirring in popular mind all right. Despite that, there was no major trouble -- simply because the people in general were made to realise the uselessness in disturbing social peace and harmony.

 

Let us consider the situation around the triple talaq issue. There were voices that opposed the idea of scrapping the practice of instant triple talaq. But slowly, painstakingly, the Government build a narrative which the larger society could not discard -- for its honesty of purpose and its expected good effect on an important segment of the Indian society -- Muslim women. The Government did not enough numbers in the Rajya Sabha to have the Bill passed. Yet, the thought was powerful and appealed to good sense of most members. When it came to voting, the Bill cleared the obstacle easily.

 

The similar was the case with the issue of abrogation of Special Status to Kashmir. The though was powerful and presented in a cogent manner that appealed to people of all shades of political opinion. The Government worked hard and systematically for months to ensure that the Special Status issue was handled efficiently. The arrangement also included heavy security cover to the region of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, plus restrictions on various channels by which some dissent could be built.

 

But if these two issues -- triple talaq and Kashmir -- needed handling not just in public but also in Parliament, the Ram Temple issue needed the handling in the society and the judiciary. In both those domains, the Government handled the situation in the most mature and responsible manner. Whenever the issue of Ram Temple came up, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and his colleagues in the Government and Bharatiya Janata Party expressed the full faith in the judiciary’s ability to handle the issue. And as that faith was endorsed time and again, a slow and silent process of social engineering, too, was put in motion -- building bridges between communities and groups. Very carefully, political parties were kept out of that effort so that there was no distortion of the narrative.

 

All those efforts proved their utility when the day of reckoning neared. Not just the Government and the administration countrywide but also the honourable Chief Justice of India, Mr. Justice Ranjan Gogoi, swung into an unobtrusive action. Mr. Justice Gogoi, too, held discussions with senior functionaries of the administration to review and examine the preparations in the critical State of Uttar Pradesh. As he did that, he was certainly aware that he was actually stepping into a zone in where none of his predecessors had ever been. But Mr. Justice Gogoi was sure that he was rewriting the country’s contemporary history, and he took all the necessary steps with a conviction that suited his style so well.

 

All these efforts, and the subsequent achievement of the larger society’s mature response to the challenges of the moment, deserve the salutes of one and all. But the greatest salute should go to the people of India -- of all shades of opinion. They have shown to themselves and the world that they are a truly civilised society -- elevated beyond all pettiness!