Yes, it would seem so, if you believe what the Organiser – the official news-magazine of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh wrote in an editorial signed by Prafulla Ketkar, ‘From Somnath to Sambhal: The Quest for Civilisational Justice’ on December 24, 2024.
https://thewire.in/communalism/can-a-civilisation-seek-justice
This is what he wrote:
“The issue that started with a petition to survey the Shri Harihar Mandir, now structured as Jama Masjid in the historic town of (Sambhal), Uttar Pradesh, is now opening up a new debate about various Constitutional rights given to individuals and communities. Instead of limiting the debate to the Hindu-Muslim question from the pseudo-secularist prism, we need a sane and inclusive debate on the quest for ‘civilizational justice’ based on truthful ‘Itihasa’, involving all sections of society”.
This is a new term – ‘Civilisational Justice’.
A grievance masquerading as a Right.
How, whereof and from who does a civilisation seek justice? A civilisation is a common and shared inheritance of a community that imagines itself to be a nation. Can one political party and its cadre arrogate to themselves that they are the sole custodians of the civilisation and decide to set right its perceived or mis-perceived wrongs?
by Ravi Joshi
24/01/2025