The demolition was used by the BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad to spread the sangh parivar’s influence beyond the Gangetic plains and into Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Once the dust from the unnecessary debate over who leaked the Liberhan Commission’s findings settles down, the country will be in a better position to reflect upon the political consequences of the enquiry report into one of independent India’s most sinister mass crimes: the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
Though it is not yet clear whether Mr. Liberhan has fixed criminal or merely political responsibility on top Bharatiya Janata party leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, the commission report seems to have concluded that the demolition was no act of spontaneous vandalism but a pre-planned conspiracy. The circle of conspirators may well have been small but it is impossible to imagine leaders like Mr. Advani were completely unaware of what was underfoot. Either way, the Manmohan Singh government is duty-bound to get to the bottom of the matter and to do so without any further delay.
For years, the BJP walked a fine line on the demolition. Senior leaders like Advani sought to avoid direct culpability for what was, after all, a criminal act, while also exploiting the communal polarisation the masjid/mandir issue caused for political gain. The strategy worked fine at first. The demolition was used by the BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad to spread the sangh parivar’s influence beyond the Gangetic plains and into Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. By the time the BJP come to power in Delhi as part of the National Democratic Alliance, however, the signs of mandir fatigue were already apparent, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. As the communal virus of the 1990s slowly exhausted itself and robbed Ayodhya of its political potency, the BJP moved on to other issues. With Mr. Liberhan content to drag out his enquiry, the legal fall-out from the demolition was managed by petty clerical fiddles at the Central Bureau of Investigation and U.P. bureaucracy. The end result: many senior leaders of the party, including Mr. Advani, extricated themselves from the demolition cases which were, in any case, progressing at a snail’s pace.
Two-fold problem
The problem for the BJP today is two-fold: First, that Mr. Liberhan chose to complete his labours and that too during the tenure of a Congress-led government; and second, that the scope for whipping up religious sentiments and rallying Hindus around the prospective martyrdom of leaders like Mr. Advani is extremely limited. Indeed, ordinary Hindus know that the Babri Masjid’s demolition, like the Gujarat massacres of 2002, is part of the backstory of urban terrorism, including the rise of homegrown terrorist outfits like the Indian Mujahideen. They also know instinctively that religious polarisation of the kind the sangh parivar has sought to engineer has made India a more dangerous and violent place. Any campaign the BJP mounts now will be marked by the desperate search for legal loopholes, alibis and fixes, not defiance and bravado in the service of Lord Rama.
Ironically, the best hope for the BJP lies in the Congress’s reluctance to press ahead its political advantage. At the best of times, the party has never been too enthusiastic about ensuring the punishment of those involved in communal crimes. The findings of the Srikrishna Commission of Enquiry into the 1992-1993 communal killings in Bombay, for example, have remained largely unimplemented. Going by the law of probability — since the probability of law is so low — there are good reasons to believe the Liberhan findings will also meet the same fate.
Keywords: Liberhan Commission, L.K. Advani, Babri Masjid, BJP, Srikrishna Commission of Enquiry, Ayodhya, RSS, Manmohan Singh, urban terrorism, VHP
The article overflows with Truth. It sheds light on the entire conspiracy and selfishness of the Sangh Parivar leaders.
Unless we, as citizens, realise that religion has no place in government, political parties will exploit it to the hilt. Being cynical, one can see that almost all political parties, and other organisations, have reaped the benefits of using religion to gain votes or influence. And if I were to continue being cynical, I can see no reason why they should stop doing so. That formula delivers.
Kalyan Singh was quite right in saying that while he told the police to use all methods of restraint, they were not to fire. That would have meant a 'mass' death. He considered the destruction of a structure not on the same level as the death of thousands of human beings.
Re: Political parties will raise these issues just to get some political advantage and not to solve the problem. - M A Haque Wrong conclusion. Like in the case of Liberhan report, it's the Congress that could bring the culprits in Sangh Parivar to justice. Likewise, a BJP government can bring to light, the perpetrators from the Congress party. Political advantage it is, it does solve the problem, albeit slowly.
Parties like the RSS, VHP and BJP along with the Shiv Sena are a disgrace to the so called 'secular' governance of the feel-good India..
The Congress is unlikely to press ahead with the report and the fate of the Sri Krishna commission is there for every body to understand on what lies ahead for the Liberhan Report. Moreover, is there any need for the Congress to use the present report for its political advantage, when the BJP has already lost its political credibility and its Mandir/hindutva agenda had lost its charm. By raking up the issue the Congress might make BJP leadership an unlikely heroes.
Leave alone the current Liberhan report. Let us look at the scores of other reports that have gathered dust over the last 60 years. The likes of Sarkaria Commission Report, Police Reform Commission Report have all been gathering dust that it might not be possible to bring those reports into the limelight. Report recommendations are seldom implemented and if at all are implemented, they would be done in accordance with the political needs of the party in power.
BJP talks about 1984 riots and seeks justice for sikhs whereas Congress talks about Gujarat masscares/Babri demolition. Both want political advantage and no one is intrested in solving the problem or help the affected people. Polilical parties will raise these issues just to get some political advantage and not to solve the problem.
The political culture of the country is such that many riots, acts of arson, murder have gone either unpunished or are perpetually under investigation. From one angle or the other, sikhs, hindus, or muslims have all suffered. The media has the responsibility of stopping such acts of vandalism.
Brilliantly and succinctly written. As a Hindu, I abhor this growth of 'Hindu talibanisation' of India with nothing but ulterior motives by the right winged parties. I personally had a taste of what an overcharged army of 'religious soldiers' of Sangh parivar were capable of when they took over our train compartment en route from Delhi to Chennai (apparently back from a rally in Delhi), with hoots and threats and with scant respect for the feelings of other humans in the compartment. This was in 1996. Me and my wife were scared to death. Frankly I never felt so nauseated and suspcious about seeing the Saffron colour like on that day, which is supposed to bring to the mind of a believer like me, only feelings of piety and humility.
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