A nation betrayed
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Twenty years have passed since the Hindu terrorists demolished Babari Masjid on 6thDecember 1992 at Ayodhya, the country has moved on gradually but the well planned assault on the Constitution of India by those who never have faith in its core values of secularism, democracy and multiculturalism continues unabated though in different forms.
It is time to revisit the tragic day and what happened and why the nation was betrayed and how the Indian state which crushes social movements remained mute to the organized crime of the Hindutva outfits in Ayodhya and elsewhere.
Lal Krishna Advani, the man, who BJP once looked as 'prime ministerial' candidate and its 'statesman', was on a Bharat yatra as he usual does and prior to that it was clearly decided in various meetings of the Sangh Parivar that enough wait has happened and it was time to take over. The country was witnessing sharp polarization with growing affinity between the Dalits and backward communities. A new alignment was building up with Pasmanda Muslims too joining the front and debating the benefits of the Mandal recommendation. It was a difficult task for the political parties representing the status quo to allow this to happen. It was possible through multiple tasking with the government undoing all that has happened in 1989-90 while the Sangh Parivar renewing its Ayodhya agenda.
Those of us who have followed up the Sangh and its hidden agenda know it well that Muslims are a direct target though the real targets are the most marginalized communities who are seeking their participation in power structure and here the upper elite in India is adamant to deny them this. The anti Mandal Commission protests were not just supported by the BJP but also clandestinely by the top brass of the congress Party.
Unfortunately, the soft Hindutva card played by Congress damaged the secular fabric of the country. It is well documented how Congress government did nothing when the idols of Ram were surreptitiously installed inside the Babari Mosque in 1949s by the Hindu fanatics. Despite Prime Minister Nehru's letter to the then chief minister Govind Ballabh Pant, the state government did not bother to change the status. Instead, the mosque was locked as it was claimed by the Hindu fanatics that Lord Ram has taken avatar in Ayodhya. When the court had order the closure of the temple, it was Rajiv lead Congress in 1985-86 which used the card and got them unlocked. The promise was a Hindu rastra but the defeat in subsequent election and then rise of the Dalit OBCs created a common threat for the upper caste domain in India's social political life. So, the Mandal commission report was opposed by most of the parties initially though they did not dare to speak against it openly that time but they started planning their strategies to break the strong alliance of the Dalits and OBCs.
In 1991, there was a regime change in Delhi and Congress came back to power with the help of outside support. In the throne of Delhi, there was a badshah famous for his inactions named as P.V.Narsimha Rao, who was leading a minority government of Congress Party at the centre, the first one outside the Nehru Gandhi clan. Rao grew up in Nizam's regime and was influenced with Sangh Parivar in anti- Muslim sentiments. Rao discomfort with growing dalit-OBC assertion forced him to be in 'holy' company of Sangh Parivar. India embraced so-called globalisation with Manmohan Singh leading the mantra when the government sector jobs were virtually closed and therefore the reservation which was provided to Dalits and later to OBCs too became null and void in his regime. No efforts were made to undo the historical wrongs. It was not for the unknown reasons that Rao send Atal Bihari Vajpayee to lead Indian delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission meetings in Geneva where the government continued with its lies that untouchability and caste discrimination does not exists in India. Can anyone who knows India and its society believe that caste system has finished and there is untouchabilty in this country?
The Hindutva proponents were happy with Rao and he was sure that BJP and their allies would do nothing. Even when it was clear that the Hindu terrorists were ready to demolish the Babari Mosque, Rao was certain that nothing would happen. Even in the National Integration Council meet, Rao had clearly said that all his contingencies were ready to tackle any situation. Even the then chief minister of Uttar-Pradesh Kalyan Singh had promised to take action in any eventuality. The Sangh's rabble rousers were active in their hate campaign and here is a government which did nothing to stop it. With its active anti Dalit anti OBC posturing, the Sangh Parivar, had become acceptable in the middle class Hindus. The media was reporting diligently and obediently. The Hindi newspapers became Hindu newspapers and news became opinion pieces of Rambhakts. Slogans like 'bachcha bachcha ram ka, janmbhumi ke kaam ka' reverberated in the air everywhere. Stories were created as how Muslims were cruel and were 'raping' and killing our women and men in Kashmir.
On December 6th, 1992 our government looked as a Hindu government. Rao had clearly betrayed the nation. He hobnobbed with the Hindutva terrorists and allowed the Babari Mosque to be dismantled. India saw its constitution being grounded in raze. It was a shame, a horror and terror which the world witnessed on its TV channels. How the Hindutva goons beat up every one who was trying to take a picture of the historical tomb being pulled down. The country was in deep shock. A nation's existence was in question. The rule of law was in question and above all, its constitution was challenged in open day light. The marauders of Manusmriti had informed the world openly and in unambiguous term that they want a 'Hindu' Rashtra in which only those would the citizens of this country who consider Lord Rama as their 'ancestor'.
We have a right to correct the 'historical wrong, the protagonists of Hindutva would cry. Yes, what are the historical wrong Mr Advani. Will you trace what is under the debris of Taj Mahal? Will we demolish Red Fort or even our Rastrapati Bhavan to find out what is there? How can we correct the historical wrong? Can the Dalits take revenge for all that is done to them in the three thousand years of history? Ayodhya has a Buddhist history and we have traced it including this so called Ram Temple itself. Will the Hindus return to Buddhists all the places of worship, all the Buddha Viharas which have been converted into temples everywhere including Bodha Gaya? Well, as a citizen of this country, I can only see, history cannot be corrected. We can only learn lessons from it.
As the Babri Mosque was raised to the ground in the broad day light our inactive prime minister was sitting in Delhi. Perhaps, he felt let the thing happen, we will see what could be done later. He came on the national TV and expressed his condolences for the demolition and blamed that the RSS betrayed him. He promised to build the Babari Mosque at the same place again so that the world could know that India stand by its people and will not tolerate this kind of terrorism. Yet, 20 years down the line, we need to find what has happened. Let us see what is the result of investigations and where do we stand?
I wish to add here an important thing. Many of my secular friends and there are many eminent who felt that Narsimha Rao was betrayed by the RSS and BJP as they had promised that nothing would happen.
They did not like my attack on him and wanted me to believe that it is the BJP and its Hindutva hoodlums who need to be condemned but I remain convince that prime minister Narsimha Rao was part of the entire conspiracy as he did not take any action. We cannot exonerate a government which remains inefficient and inactive. Whatever abuse we hurl on Mulayam Singh Yadav or VP Singh, they saved the country in October 1990 when the Sangh and their conspirators wanted to demolish Babari Masjid. Mulayam was strict in UP that time and did not allow anything to happen here. V.P.Singh did not allow Lal Krishna Advani's Rathyatra further from Bihar even when his government was voted out of power in Lok Sabha but then whenever such issues emerges before the nation, the prime minister has to take action even if his government goes. Narsimha Rao saved his government but the country was on the verge of the biggest crisis after independence.
BJP and Hindutva outfits grew up and came to power at the Centre. Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati were charge sheeted as they were there during the destruction of the Babari Mosque. They witnessed the goons razing the mosque. Uma Bharati and Joshi were overjoyed and hugged each other. CBI charged for criminal conspiracy yet today we do not know what happened in that case. Lal Krishna Advani presided over the same ministry which has charged sheeted him. Yesterday, Sushma Swaraj was joking at her opponent that CBI has become tool in the hands of the government but we want to ask a question as why has not a single case of communal riots resolved so far. How far has Indian state penalized the Hindu terror organizations who spread hatred, crime against minorities in India and yet come back to power?
The fact is that India's state machinery has been thoroughly communalized and therefore all the Muslims who are engaged in 'violence' or 'hatred' are 'terrorists' while all the Dalits who ask question to state and disagree with its policies are Naxalites and all the aadivasis who fight for their rights are jailed for being 'Maoists'.
But how great our system is that all the upper caste upper elite Hindus who spread hatred, challenge our constitution and are engaged in communal riots, becomes ministers, chief ministers and even are projected as future prime ministers. And CBI and all our police and state administration will have to work with them. It is very easy to blame others but it is time we need to question Indian state's commitment to secular cause. The secularism is symbolic here to support the brahmanical leadership of the country.
Babari Masjid's demolition exposed the myth of Hindu tolerance. All those who felt that Hinduism is tolerant got exposed though many still pretend to believe in 'liberal' Hinduism. The Hindu dharma is nothing but a castle of castes and the day castes disappear this dharma would collapse. That Babari Masjid was blown on the day when we remember our greatest icon who fought a valiant battle against the varnashram dharma and caste system, exposes the Hindutva grand design of bringing Dalits into their fold in the common agenda against Muslims.
It was reminded to us that Babari Masjid was symbol of our slavery and that Rama was born there. Myths cannot be converted into historical fact. In fact, research now proves that Ayodhya was Saket, a Buddhist place which the Brahmins actually converted into a Hindu place. My own interviews with many Sadhus and Mahants in Ayodhya prove that and they agreed to the point. However, that is not the subject matter of this article here. The point is not whether there exist a Ram Temple or not as no court can decide about that fact of mythology. The Hindutva protagonists cleverly made it a court case to decide about Rama's birth. Actually, Ayodhya case is between those who intruded the Mosque and kept the idols of Ramlala inside it. It is not a case of where Rama was born which has now been made out. Can the courts really decide where Rama was born? Whether Rama was a real character or a fictitious one? And if he was a real character, even then why those people have been let without punishment who planted the idols there?
Through their mischievous campaign, Rama was imposed on people of India and we were told about his virtues. We refuse to accept his virtues. That man who killed Shambuka, a shudra for reciting Vaidik hymns and exiled his wife for no fault of her. How can he be our idol, as Ram Jethmalani rightly said a few months back? At the moment, the issues of existence of Rama or his virtues are not the concern but the concern of the secular ideals of the nation and how state remain committed to the constitution which guarantees each one of us right to our faith including right to not having faith. Ayodhya's story is that of betrayal of our constitutional vision by the brahmanical political class which wants to use all the avenues and want a section of its people to be rulers while others to be subservient to them. It is the story of continuous failure of Indian state to provide justice to its second biggest majority, the Muslims. Can any country and society develop if over 14% of its population is pushed to marginalization and their identity is under regular assault from the rightwing nationalists who have no contribution for the building of this great country and none of them have ever been punished for their anti-national act of vilifying an entire community?
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
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