Almost over a week after the Supreme Court issued him notice in the Babri Masjid demolition case, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani on Sunday reiterated that organisations involved in the Ayodhya movement could be faulted for their inability to judge the impatience of the people but could not be held responsible for what happened on December 6, 1992.
Focussing on the issue of “credibility” in his blog, Mr. Advani related it with the Ayodhya movement and the failure of the United Progressive Alliance government to pre-empt wrongdoing by ‘scamsters.' He underlined credibility as the most important attribute of an individual and an organisation, including himself and his party.
Recalling his immediate description of the demolition of the masjid as “the saddest day in my life,” Mr. Advani now says: “I'm extremely sad that our party's credibility has been badly dented by the happenings of December 6.”
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Referring to the criticism for expressing his sorrow over the incident, Mr. Advani stressed that he was proud of his association with the Ayodhya movement and was not apologetic about the “development.”
“Meticulous plan went awry”
The BJP leader recollected: “I felt sad that a meticulously drawn up plan of action, where under the U.P. government was steadily marching forward towards discharging its mandate regarding temple construction without violating any law or disregarding any court order, has gone awry [because of the demolition]. If the exercise contemplated had now been short-circuited in a totally unforeseen manner the organizations involved in the movement can be faulted for not being able to judge the impatience of the people participating in the movement, but they were certainly not responsible for what happened that day.”
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Turning to the Manmohan Singh government, Mr. Advani said President Pratibha Patil cancelled the appointment of P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner as he did not relinquish charge even after the Supreme Court had quashed it. The court was forced to do what the government ought to have done. “The bigger tragedy, however, is that in the matter of pre-empting wrongdoing by scamsters the government has totally abdicated it responsibility.”
Mr. Advani said, “The Manmohan Singh government's credibility is in a shambles.”
The court having to repeatedly take action, be it in “the case of Thomas or Raja or Hasan Ali or Commonwealth Games officials,” showed that the UPA government's ethical deficit was more serious than its governance deficit.
Describing 2010 as a year of scams, Mr. Advani made a call to make 2011 a year of accountability.