Lekin insaaf nahin mila hai Me Lord... insaaf nahin mila. Mili hai toh sirf yeh taareeq!

This melodramatic dialogue of Sunny Deol playing the role of an honest lawyer in the movie 'Damini' pretty much sums up the general public opinion on the postponement of Ayodhya verdict by another few days, to September 28th.

The verdict to be pronounced before September 30th is crucial (whether beams and ceilings in CWG stadiums are fixed or not) as one of the judges retire on that date and should something such occur which makes it inevitable for the judgement NOT to come out before that date, then the entire trial will have to be held once again, which means, another 4-5 General Elections can be fought on the Ayodhya dispute which is perhaps the last thing an Indian wants. Postponing the judgement by 4 days with an expectation of out-of-court settlement from the parties to title suit is too much an ask from them. It is more like the 3-day Agra Summit where we were made to believe that at the end of the 3rd Day, Kashmir dispute will be solved and all we got was a long list of savouries served to Musharraf & Co, how he exclaimed the Taj Mahal and a couple of "We will" and "We shall" assurances. If something could not be solved in 60+ years, will 60 odd hours bring a solution? Will an out-of-court settlement mean there won't be any violence? The parties to title suit don't have any control over the rioters in various parts of the country, do they? Which is that party to title suit after having fought for so long willing to go back home empty handed while the winner celebrates with champagnes and self-congratulates his own 'charisma'?

Should there be no more pleas to postpone the verdict and should the verdict be delivered on September 28th, there is still no guarantee that violence and riots will be an absolute zero. On the other hand, the entire effort by the Central Govt. to ensure peace, even though the Commonwealth Games preparation is at 'piece-piece', becomes meaningless now. Remember, quite a sizeable number of security forces are dispatched to Uttar Pradesh, from where the judgement would be pronounced, various States were on a high-alert, forces were deployed in sensitive areas and many such measures were also taken to ensure peace and civility. So now imagine, these forces have to relocate back to their pavilion or stay back until next week? What do we do with the steps taken like Sec . 144 enforcement, liquor ban, bulk SMSs ban etc.?

One more matter of concern is 28th of September falls very close to 3rd October which is the opening day of Commonwealth Games (assuming that it goes as per schedule). Athletes from different nations would be landing here next week. If security forces are deployed at sensitive and vulnerable areas (and by the grace of God, we have such areas in plenty) who will provide security to these athletes? Will we tell them that we can't provide security to you because we are deciding whether to build a temple or a mosque at some place where more than half the Indians have never visited?

Meanwhile, if more dialogues from the same sequence of 'Damini' are to be believed, then, "Do tareeqon ke beech adaalat ke baahar kaanoon ke dallaal insaaf ka dhandha karte hai.. dhandha, jahaa pe gawaahon ko khareedey jaatey hai aur beche jaatey hai.."

- Common Man

Image courtesy -
1. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060319/spectrum/main7.htm
2. http://www.bookofirc.com/index.php?key=Deol
3. http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/supreme-court-defers-ayodhya-verdict-54268