SECULARISM- ON THE TOUCHSTONES OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES “A STUDY OF THE NEWSPAPER HEADLINES ON ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT VERDICT ON ‘RAM JANMABHOOMI-BABRI MASJID’ ISSUE”

Secularism is the backbone of the Indian Constitution. According to article 25, all those who reside in India are free to confess, practice and propagate religion of one's choice subject of course to social health and law and order (1). The pluralistic character of the country, which has been attributed as the greatest asset of India, sometimes, however, becomes the liability when communal frenzy takes shape. Hence, the role of mass media becomes extremely important in maintaining the pluralist character of the society and thereby strengthening the democracy of the country. This paper seeks to look into how the newspapers represented one of the most important news events of our time- the Allahabad High Court Verdict on ‘Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid' issue- the issue that has witnessed several communal violence's over last several decades.