People's Democracy

 Ayodhya: Sangh Plan Foiled 

Harkishan Singh Surjeet

OCTOBER 17 is a date that the VHP and the likes of Praveen Togadia would like to forget. For more than anything else it has established beyond doubt that the movement for the construction of a temple on the ruins of a Masjid does not evoke the same response as the campaign that led to the destruction of the Babri Masjid did more than a decade ago. This fact, more than anything else, led to the utter flop of the so-called “sankalp sammelan.” The country feels relieved more so because nothing untoward happened. And there were enough reasons for this, given the poisonous campaign by rabble rousers like Togadia who had the audacity to hold the threat of a communal riot.

This is not to discount the fact that the VHP was able to rally thousands to Uttar Pradesh, only to get arrested. The VHP mobilisation was somewhere around thirty thousand as per the UP government’s figures. But on the stipulated date, they were unable to make it to Ayodhya thanks to a determined state government and no less to the absence of enthusiasm down below, despite the excessive media coverage in the build-up to October 17. Even those sympathising with the temple movement have come to believe that the issue is a plank raised solely for electoral mileage, the latest move being timed with the forthcoming assembly elections to five states. That there stock was on the decline, was evident even earlier. The outcome of the last elections to the UP assembly showed that despite a similar gimmick on the Ayodhya issue, they came a poor third.

The frustration for the communal combine also rises from the fact that the recently sworn in Mulayam Singh Yadav government firmly and skilfully countered the challenge. No doubt Mulayam Singh was armed with the Allahabad High Court order directing the state government not to permit the holding of any meeting at or in the neighbourhood of the disputed site. With the offer of holding the meeting five kilometers away from the site having been rejected by the VHP, the state government had no other option than to enforce the rule of law. However, rather than adopting a confrontationist approach, the UP government tactfully but firmly tided over the crisis. The handling of the situation has won all round praise for Mulayam Singh.

But what is interesting is Venkaiah Naidu’s rejection of the VHP's demand for the dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.  Naidu stated that  "there is no need for it" as there was "no major untoward incident". One will recall that only a few days before the VHP programme was scheduled, the BJP president had called for the holding of the programme at Ayodhya.

And yet again, in the run up to the programme the variety of outfits that constitute the Saffron Brigade, despite their seeming differences, spoke in one voice. While Vajpayee did see media reports about the filth and abuses that the likes of Togadia hurled on him, we saw the same Vajpayee on return from a trip to Thailand and Indonesia counselling Mulayam to “trust” the VHP. The country need not be reminded that eleven years ago, the trust placed in these outfits was breached. Despite a firm assurance given by the BJP and its then government in UP to the central government, to the Supreme Court and the National Integration Council not to harm the Babri Masjid, the Masjid was demolished. Not only was the trust reposed on these outfits breached but the trust in the secular edifice of the Constitution and the fabric of society. But the PM’s deputy, L K Advani was more categorical. He not only asked the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to allow peaceful ‘‘darshan’’ but also to permit a meeting outside the makeshift temple.

The RSS too chipped in by stating that the best policy to tackle the situation was to build the temple. So despite the “differences” the three main outfits of the Saffron Brigade converged.

Therefore, even while the VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia carried on spouting venom and warned of communal riots if VHP activists were stopped from marching to Ayodhya and pulling down hundreds of mosques, there was not even the slightest protest from the home minister, or the BJP-led NDA government or its various non-BJP constituents who claim to be secular.  While the NDA was formed, contentious issues were said to have been placed on the backburner. But with the Vajpayee government losing credibility as the days pass, these same contentious issues that form the backbone of the BJP are coming to the forefront once again, while the other NDA partners maintain silence.

A mellowed down Togadia who was arrested on arrival at Lucknow was escorted to Ayodhya on October 18 to hold a “sammelan” a day behind schedule, but this time after permission from the UP government. But as reports indicate, despite the media hype the turnout was much below the expectations of the organisers themselves. This is an indication of things to come.

While the entire country heaves a sigh of relief at the fizzling out of the proposed VHP congregation at Ayodhya, it does not call for any laxity in vigil. One can “trust” these outfits to come up with all sorts of tricks. Togadia’s warning of riots needs to be taken seriously. He has only affirmed and confirmed what was public knowledge. That the Hindutva outfits can engineer riots and indulge in mass killings like those in Gujarat in order to position themselves in the seat of power.

Therefore, while being content that October 17 has passed over incident free, there is no cause for complacency. As we go to the press, we hear of VHP leader Togadia’s warning that the “moment of reckoning” had arrived for the Muslims and that the VHP was preparing a list of 30,000 mosques, which they are seeking to target.  In the light of these renewed threats, the anti-communal campaign has to be carried forward so that the people of the country take the “sankalp” to foil the nefarious designs of the communal forces.