tehelka.com / Web special, 5 December 2009
by Ram Puniyani
The leakage and subsequent tabling of Liberhan Commission report on Babri demolition has brought forward lot of known things, lots of guesses have been confirmed and the truth behind those have been ratified and well documented. It’s true that nothing startlingly new has come out, nevertheless Liberhan has been able to put together with meticulous care, evidence for the demolition with exactitude. This is a contribution as we know that when demolition was going on the Kar Sevaks had targeted the journalists, the photographers and destroyed most of the evidence on the spot. One is very critical of the inexcusable delay, the 48 extensions and the exonerating of Narsimha Rao in the whole episode. Another weak spot of the report is the part on recommendations, with so many observations and conclusions one could have given recommendations to ensure that the law of the land is applied properly and the guilty are given suitable punishment. That notwithstanding, the conclusions of the commission are a lesson for the whole nation.
A short background of the dispute needs to be recapitulated. Babri mosque is nearly a five century old structure, built by Babar’s General Mir Baqui. The history of this got mired in controversy over a period of time. The seeds of controversy were sown by British in pursuance of their policy of ‘divide and rule’, and their introduction of Communal Historiography. The British Official Mrs. A.F. Beeveridge translated Babarnama, and when the reference to the Ayodhya Mosque came, she put a baseless foot note that there might have been a temple there, before the mosque was built. This became the seed which later blew up in to a major controversy. The concoction about its being the place of birthplace of Ram came up from the communal thinking. In pursuance of that, Ram Lalla idols were installed, in the mosque by deceit on the night of 22nd January 1949. Till that time Namaz (prayer by Muslims) was regularly performed. After this the Jan Sangh supporter, District Magistrate, K.K. Nayyar got the mosque locked and namaz was stopped, after that. Sensing trouble Pundit Nehru wrote to the UP Chief Minister G.B.Pant to get the idols evacuated. Somehow that was not done. K.K. Nayyar after his retirement from Government service contested elections on Jana Sangh, BJP predecessor, ticket for Lok Sabha.
The matter remained frozen as a court dispute between the Akhara of Mahant Ramchandra Das and the Wakf board. After 1975 Vishwa Hindu Parishad took up the matter of ‘Liberation of Ram Janmbhoomi, Temple’. In response the Muslim groups formed All India Babri Masjid Action Committee. From the decade of 1980 due to various social changes, a section of middle class in particular, started veering round VHP and the programs led by VHP for Ram Temple started getting more response. Due to rising social pressure, Rajiv Gandhi got the locks of masjid opened and Shilanyas was performed. From 1989 Lal Krishna Advani of BJP took up the issue as the main agenda of BJP. Declaration of Mandal Commission for OBCs was met with the response of intensification of Ram Temple agitation. Advani’s Rath yatras started getting more aggressive after this point of time.
The Kar Seva which was to take place on the 6th December 1992 was promised to be a symbolic one. Atal Bihari Vajpayee promised so in the meeting of National Integration Council (NIC). Kalyan Singh promised to NIC, and gave affidavits to Supreme Court that Masjid will be protected. But he also deceived and ensured that the police and other paramilitary forces don’t act, the roads to Ayodhya were blocked. Once the masjid started falling Kalyan Singh sought the advice of Advani, about resigning. Advani advised him to hold on till the whole masjid is demolished.
About demolition, whatever reports came out showed that the rehearsal of demolition was performed one day in advance. In this rehearsal all the big instruments for breaking the mosque, the ropes, shovels and other implements were there in place. On the day of demolition only trained workers were allowed to go in, this was manned by certain people. These trained kar sevaks were wearing saffron bandana. They not only demolished the mosque with military precision but also removed Ram lalla idols and cash box before the demolition process began. Later they also built the make shift temple. Many of these things were vaguely reported as a section of Kar Sevaks was given instructions by the central coordinator to beat up the journalists and destroy all photographic-video evidence.
It is in this light that we need to look at the Commission report. Its first conclusion is that it was a well coordinated and planned action, ‘Joint common enterprise’ as characterized by Liberhan. It was done with military precision. This is contrary to the propaganda that it was an outburst of spontaneous anger of people, who were denied their logical claim for the temple at the place of birth of their lord. Commission points out that the whole exercise was not a mass supported one; those mobilized and behind the demolition were the Sangh Parivar supporters, mobilized from all over by well planned exercise. In this dastardly act, BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Rashtra Sevika Samiti and other progeny of RSS was involved. RSS played the role of coordinating their attack. So far we do know that most of the top level leadership of these organizations comes from the RSS trained swayamsevaks, barring the top leadership of Rashtra Sevika Samiti, as women are not allowed to be part of RSS. All this stands confirmed with this report. RSS top brass was doing the central coordination as per the report. This report also confirms the analysis of scholars/activists about the relationship between RSS and its progeny.
So apparently, there were three lakh followers of RSS in Ayodhya but the core job was done by a select group, well trained for the purpose. It also tells us the secretive and opaque nature of RSS, which may be capable of doing sinister things, but its role does not become apparent as investigations don’t go to that level and the marginal organizations, which any way are front organizations implementing RSS agenda, are blamed and the real organization remains insulated from the blame of the act well planned by it.
Liberhan Commission concludes, “I conclude that the RSS, BJP, VHP, Shiv Sena and their office bearers as named in this report, in connivance with Kalyan Singh, the then Chief Minister of U.P., entered into a Joint Common Enterprise for the purpose of demolition of the disputed structure and the construction of the temple in its place. They practiced intermingling of religion with politics as a well thought out act to subvert democracy.”
Lot of shock is being expressed about the Commission blaming Vajpayee also. It is generally presumed that he was above such issues and machinations. It seems such an image was also deliberately cultivated to woo the liberal sections of society. As such Vajpayee did speak in the meeting in Kanpur on 5th December, which gives inkling that he knew the whole game. He stated that he does not know what will happen the next day. He also said that the land where Babri Mosque is located will have to be flattened. He was playing his assigned role, and was waiting in Lucknow to join the Kar Seva the next day. Later he said that he has been asked to return to Delhi. VHP has gone on record to say that Vajpayee was part of the Ayodhya issue.
Clearly he was to take care of the national scene and protect the criminals of demolition by holding fort in Delhi. Later he did protest when action was taken against Advani and Co., who were present at the site of demolition. After demolition Vajpayye was the one who began by saying that we are sorry to the nation but later on took an aggressive stance to justify the demolition by saying, ‘this is what happens when the sentiments of people are not respected’. One knows that the so called sentiments are the sentiments of RSS followers who by that time had smelt that the path to power is paved by the communalization of social space by misusing the Hindu traditions. What an irony, the whole game of power was played in the name of Lord Ram, the one who renounced power to respect the promise given by his father to one of his wives!
The commission does well by pointing out the so called movement for Ram Temple was not a movement of average people as it was restricted to the followers of Sangh Parivar only. Ordinary people had no role in the same. Even the role of Muslim leadership has been correctly criticized when Liberhan says that Muslim leadership failed those whom it is supposed to work for.
Th demolition and aftermath led to severe communalization of society. RSS is the central player in the game of communalization of society. Similarly the so called Muslim leadership has been shown to be out of sync with sentiments and needs of average Muslims.
There is enough to criticize the delay, exonerating of Narasimha Rao etc, of the commission, but we don’t have to throw the precious baby with the bath tub, if the water around is murky.
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