EDITORIAL

 Saffron’s Newer Perfidies

THE Rae Bareilly court’s exoneration of L K Advani in the criminal conspiracy to demolish the Babri Masjid has confirmed our apprehensions of the ruthless manner in which this RSS-controlled Vajpayee government manipulates and utilises the instruments of parliamentary democracy to advance its political project of converting the secular democratic Indian republic into a fascistic "Hindu Rashtra." As stated repeatedly in these columns in the past, it is not the judiciary that has exonerated Advani, but it is the CBI.  The CBI functions under the PMO and is heavily influenced by the home ministry, which is presided over by Advani himself! When the accused is the presiding officer, can any one expect justice?

Prior to the judgement, the RSS/BJP was boasting that they were in a "win-win" situation. If the court exonerates all of them, then it "proves" their point that they were not involved in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and, by extension, there was nothing wrong in the demolition itself. This would have been buttressed by the campaign that since the ASI has "found" that a temple existed on the site, the RSS octopus was justified in demolishing the masjid.   That the court still has to pronounce its opinion on the ASI report since it had provided six weeks time for various concerned parties to file their objections is, of course, of no consideration for them.

In case the Rae Bareilly court had proceeded to charge-sheet all of them, then they could parade as the  "martyrs" of the temple movement being persecuted by a "political conspiracy." This, they hoped, would have given an added impetus to their movement on this issue, that could benefit them in the forthcoming elections. 

In the event, however, while exonerating Advani, the Rae Bareilly court has asked for the framing of charges against the others. The RSS/BJP's "win-win" situation suddenly turned out to be a "lose-lose" one.

The moral high that Dr Murli Manohar Joshi is adopting by having tendered his resignation confirms the depths of hypocrisy that the Parivar is capable of. In September 1997, the special designated court at Lucknow had charge-sheeted a total of 49 leading luminaries of the RSS octopus, including Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti, with a criminal conspiracy to demolish the Babri Masjid, and put up the case for trial. This Vajpayee-led government assumed office in 1998 and the concerned individuals become members of the union cabinet when these charges were already framed against them and the trial was to begin. If they had any sense of morality, they would not and should not have become ministers in the first place. Having done so then, and now claiming a moral high ground, Dr Joshi is only displaying unscrupulousness of the worst order.

This apart, it is clear once again that the RSS/BJP have no other issue left to garner any public support except through the sharpening of communal polarisation with the hope of consequent electoral benefits. In other words, consolidate the Hindu vote bank even if it means horrific communal strife! 

The VHP has already announced its plan for an agitation for the temple construction. They have openly proclaimed the irrelevance of a judicial verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. As reported by press, their propaganda material for this agitation contains unveiled fascist threats that terror and terrorist attacks will only stop if the temple construction begins (The Indian Express, September 23). All this happens while Vajpayee embarks on an international campaign, calling for a firm action against terrorism. According to their definition, the attacks by Islamic fundamentalists are terroristic while attacks by Hindu communalists are part of a "political movement." What a perfidy!

In this context, the death sentence given to Dara Singh for the brutal torching to death of Graham Staines and his children has, to some extent, redeemed a degree of faith in our system of delivery of justice. It is necessary, however, to recollect that when the RSS-sponsored attacks against the Christians were at their height, the prime minister had, instead of giving an assurance and acting upon it to protect the law of the land and punishing the guilty, called for a national debate on religious conversions! In a not so concealed manner, the prime minister had then virtually justified these attacks as being provoked by the activities of the Christian missionaries. 

Also recollect that the NDA hatchet man, George Fernandes, saw a foreign conspiracy behind the murders, while Narendra Modi, acting as one of the BJP general secretaries then, described Staines's murder as the handiwork of Islamic jihadis. He said, "After Pokhran, there are many forces that don't want this government to remain. Someone had decided at some point of time that Staines had to be killed."

Advani did not want to be left behind and gave a clean chit to the Bajrang Dal and to the likes of Dara Singh by saying, "I know these organisations and they are no criminals."

In a similar vein, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate for Madhya Pradesh, one of those against whom the Rae Bareilly court has decided to proceed with a charge-sheet, has described the Congress president as a "Christian missionary."

From international to the domestic, all fora are being utilised by the RSS octopus to spread deeper the communal hatred against the minorities to serve its electoral and political agenda. If ever any reconfirmation was necessary, it comes once again by these developments that the only way in which the RSS/BJP seek to retain their hold over state power is by whipping communal mayhem with all its disastrous consequences of the death of innocent life, massive destruction of property and the dangers created for the very unity and integrity of India.

It is this larger gameplan that has to be defeated, if India, i e Bharat, has to remain the secular democratic republic that all Indian patriots cherish.