What makes a certain set of people think that they are above the law?
There was Mr.Advani and his bunch of karsewaks who thought that they could overrule the court’s verdict and take law into their own hands by bringing down the Mosque.

There are the caste panchayats – illegal ofcourse – that pass judgement that often go against the basics of the Indian Constitution.
Then of course there are the fatwas that are flying all over the place breaking all kinds of laws. Fatwas on women divorcing their husbands to marry their rapists, to fatwas on women not entering public service, to women campaigning behind the veil.
Now, fatwas are not binding but they do tend to have the same impact as a caste panchayat – set back equality and equity of the weakest sections of society. And these are usually women.
When a mufti issues a fatwa that states that:

– Community which accepts the leadership of a woman cannot progress
– Muslim women must wear purdah and should only campaign in purdah
– If there is no option, and a Muslim women must contest, then the campaigning should be done only by the husband

Then it is about time that the government threw the book at who ever issued that particular fatwa , and took them to court for flouting the Constitution. The Preamble – we don’t even have to go deep into reading the constitution – guarantees equality. And while they are at it let them take the person who issued the Imrana fatwa to court as well – the Preamble guarantees justice. And to keep them company – a few members of caste panchayats, who have merrily been violating equality, justice and liberty for God knows how many decades since independence. And while they are at it Messers Advani and co can be prosecuted for messing around with Fraternity – assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation

If we all understand and appreciate the fact that as Indians it is the Constitution that symbolises our nation, then anyone who goes against the fundamentals of the Constitution is going against the fundamentals of nationhood. Therefore, they are committing treason. Try them for treason. Three or four well publicised trials of people of all communities, castes and faith – and you will see the rest falling in line.

As a Government you can’t sit there and pontificate and theorize about the fact that these kind of religious/caste courts have no validity. Take action, and be seen to take action. This kind of spineless kowtowing to religious and caste pulls is going to cost us all dearly.