‘Rao was prime culprit; judiciary and executive colluded in destruction’ reveals AG Noorani’s latest book on Babri
December 6, 2014 i
By Abdul Bari Masoud , MMN,
New
Delhi: “Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was the prime culprit in
the demolition of the Babri Masjid as he acted in such a manner that he
would not be blamed for this National Dishonour and virtual collusion of
the judiciary and executive in this shameful act.” This is what summed
up by the distinguished Constitutional expert and political commentator
A. G. Noorani in his latest book on the Ajodhya dispute titled as
‘Destruction of the Babri Masjid: A National Dishonour’.
In
this seminal work, which is a third volume on the issue and is a sequel
to The Babri Masjid Question 1528–2003: ‘A Matter of National Honour’,
(published in 2003 in two volumes), Noorani has encompassed recent
history and several disclosures regarding the destruction of the 400
year-old mosque in Ajodhya. The book was released at a ceremony held on Wednesday
evening at the residence of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
The book traced conspiracy and discussed how the civil and criminal
cases concerning the title to the Babri Masjid and accountability for
its demolition on December 6, 1992, have all but run their course. The
author also blamed Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party led so called
secular governments of Uttar Pradesh which have shown little guts and
proved hindrance in the way of pursuing cases against the accused
including BJP bigwigs like of Advani and Joshi.
The
author said in the preface of the book that “In the courts of law and
justice, the civil and criminal cases concerning the title to the Babri
Masjid and accountability for its destruction, on 6 December 1992, have
all but run their course. Neither legality nor justice has been
conspicuous in the proceedings or in the many judgments delivered. On
past form, there is little hope for redress in legal proceedings after
that grave and utterly wasteful crime. . . . The forces of India’s
secularism can ignore the challenges ahead only at the nation’s peril.
At stake is the survival of India’s democracy and its corollary,
secularism.”
He
asserted that the evidence in the book nails Narasimha Rao shows his
culpability. He was the man, who knew what was happening and he kept his
eyes shut. “But Rao did all that. From the record which I had laid
hands on, it is very clear that he was communal- minded. He had a record
of communal mindedness when he was chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. He
had a bad record during the struggle against Nizam in Hyderabad. At one
time, Advani also praised him, called and him fantastic. I must
mention also that it required chief justice like Justice Venkatachaliah,
to make demolition possible. I have documented that Venkatachaliah
facilitated demolition by giving those adjournments and after the
demolition, Attorny General Milon Banerjee reminded him, “I had warned
your lordship.” Venkatachaliah went so far saying, I hope you are
looking after the health of the kar sevaks. And sure enough, because of
this he was appointed chairman of Constitution Review Committee by the
BJP government,” Noorani said.
He
also accused the CBI of playing a deceitful role in the demolition
cases. He pointed that when Advani was in power, CBI had one role, and
when he was not in power, it played a different game.
Describing
the demolition of Babri Masjid was a watershed in Indian history,
Noorani said it propelled Advani into a position of leadership and it
seemed he would become prime minister and it did help spread the message
of Hindutva but it did not last long as could be seen in the election
results of 2004 and 2009.
In
the book, he also argued that Babri Masjid should not have been
allowed to be made a Muslim issue alone saying Muslim leadership made
considerable mistakes like the Babri Masjid Action Committee’s stupid
call of boycott of all official functions of Republic Day was bound to
have negative impact.
On
the Allahabad High Court judgment on the title suit of the Babri
Masjid, he said that the majority judgment of the two Hindu judges of
High Court recalled the cases of those demolitions by Muslim rulers as
if that sanctifies demolition now. Contending this, Noorani said
prominent historian Romila Thapar has very well documented how Buddhist
places of worship were demolished by Hindus and vice versa. A Hindu
Kashmiri King Harshdev looted temples to fill his coffers. He warned
that such justification will open a Pandora Box with no end.He said that
the ball is now in the Supreme Court. “And on past performance, really,
we can’t say, when the case will be heard.”
It
is to be mentioned here that in the present volume, Noorani covered the
three Allahabad High Court judgments, the Liberhan Commission Report,
the tortuous course of the criminal cases, and disclosures and
developments in the last decade –from 2003 till the end of 2013. An
Introduction surveys the events before and after the demolition of the
Babri Masjid, and analyses the judgments delivered by the three judges
of the Allahabad High Court in 2010.
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Brief about the author:
(A.G.
Noorani is an Advocate, Supreme Court of India, and a leading
constitutional expert and political commentator. He is a regular
columnist for Frontline and the author of numerous books, including The
Destruction of Hyderabad (2013), The Kashmir Dispute 1947–2012, in two
volumes (2013), Islam, South Asia and the Cold War (2012), Article 370: A
Constitutional History of Jammu and Kashmir (2011), Jinnah and Tilak:
Comrades in the Freedom Struggle (2010), India–China Boundary Problem
1846–1947: History and Diplomacy (2010), Indian Political Trials
1775–1947 (2006), Constitutional Questions and Citizens’ Rights (2006),
The Muslims of India: A Documentary Record (editor, 2003), and Islam and
Jihad: Prejudice versus Reality (2003).
