The Khajuraho idol restoration case has sparked debate after Chief Justice B.R. Gavai’s alleged remarks during a Supreme Court hearing.
Chief justice of India, B.R. Gavai, has come under severe censure amid accusations of inappropriate remarks made by the Chief Justice during a Supreme Court consideration of a petition for the restoration of a Lord Vishnu idol damaged in Khajuraho’s Jalari temple.
The pronouncements of the Chief Justice, as reported by NDTV, instigated social media backlash wherein numerous individuals commented on the insensitivity of the remarks and called for their immediate repudiation. Also, a few social media users posted video clips or stills of the hearing captions, mentioning the court and encouraging them to be mindful in discussions of religious relevance as they addressed religious issues.
Social Media Backlash Over Remarks
The dispute arose during a hearing when a bench led by Chief Justice Gavai, alongside Justice Augustine George Masih, refused to hear a petition seeking the restoration of the head of a seven-foot Lord Vishnu idol damaged at the UNESCO World Heritage site Jalari Temple in Madhya Pradesh. During the proceedings, the court stated it was related to the jurisdiction of the Archaeology Survey of India.https://asi.nic.in/
“Go and ask the deity himself to do something right now. You say you are a true devotee of Lord Vishnu, so please go and ask him to do so, now. You can see it is a historical site, and ASI has to approve it, etc. Sorry,” Gavai reportedly stated.
Arguments About Government Neglect
The plea submitted by Rakesh Dalal claimed that the statue was disfigured during Mughal invasions. Dalal stated that even though he had continuously requested officials to restore the idol, it was still in a disfigured condition. He suggested that further damage was sustained during colonial neglect and later indifference from government officials, and that it has remained in a disfigured state for years, all within the Chandravanshi-era temple complex that has been celebrated so many, many times.
Dalal contended that the lack of action from the government was against worshippers’ basic rights. He maintained that local people and devotees attempted to protest, made memoranda, and initiated minor campaigns to urge officials to make necessary repairs, but there was no real improvement from the relevant departments. The prayer asked the court to order the ASI and state governments to fix the statue, given that the monument is of heritage status.
After the hearing, Advocate Vineet Jindal candidly warned the Supreme Court Chief Justice of India to retract his openly published comments. Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Jindal stated, “As an individual believer in Sanatan Dharma, I wrote to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India appealing for the immediate withdrawal of his inappropriate comments against Lord Vishnu and Hindu sensibilities.”
Jindal maintained that judges must be sensitive to the religious sensitivities of people when the judge and/or the law are to be interpreted. Jindal explained that judicial comments, even if generalized in a way that does not offend on an individual level,… These comments can strike an entire society if people interpret them as referring to a god or an ancient temple.
Challenges in Khajuraho Idol Restoration and Heritage Conservation
The ASI has jurisdiction over the care and maintenance of the Khajuraho Group of Monuments and has made no indication as to whether they would care for the restoration of the idol. Experts don’t believe conservation is an easy operation. Heritage sculptures require sensitivity to many things, including structural integrity, historical and contextual accuracy, and the archaeological significance of the site.
Legal observers believe the court’s inaction follows an established practice regarding heritage disputes. The Supreme Court has long held that these matters are exclusively the domain of the ASI unless there’s evidence of an egregious neglect of duty or constitutional violation.
The debate is ongoing online, with some defending the Chief Justice’s statement as a simple joke and others claiming it is disrespectful. Heritage advocates argue that a specific policy about the restoration of idols in protected monuments is important, and that it brings clarity to these matters to prevent the debate in the first place.
For now, authorities will not reinstate the broken Vishnu idol of the Javari temple, and the debate around judicial sensitivity and management of heritage sites will continue
For more-https://civiclens.in/cji-gavai-khajuraho-remarks-clarification/
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Very good