The demolition of historic Babri Masjid and its aftermath should not be seen as isolated incidents in India. These are part and parcel of emerging Indian reality. The BJP and its government in UP was not “entirely” responsible for the dramatic developments of December6, 1992. While the BJP had projected construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya as an important political agenda in the last election.
The Congress (1) government at the Center promised protection to the Muslim mosque. Indian government did order deployment of central Security forces in UP on the eve of December 6, The Home Minister did talk of a contingency plan to deal with the situation, But, strangely, the Rao government did nothing at all to prevent the assembly of over two lakh Hindu activists from demolishing the masjid. It was the UP state police which ran the show, The UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh resigned as Soon as his purpose was achieved. Thus, the India Supreme Court, which has been ‘increasingly assuming political role in collaboration with the ‘central government, made itself. A laughing stock in the bargain. The ‘State’s BJP government was “dismissed” exactly after it had achieved its aim. We in IHRO, therefore, hold the Rao government and the BJP along with its frontal organizations responsible for the demolition.
‘This interesting to recall the Indian government’s approach when it had attacked and destroyed Akal Takht, the Sikh holy shrine, in 1984. New Delhi had prepared for the eventuality for months in advance; Sikhs were not allowed to move out days prior to the event. Curfew was imposed a week in advance so that no Sikh could go to Amritsar to protest. The only difference between the two situations is that while the destruction mission in the case of Sikhs was entrusted to armed forces, the mission, in case of Muslims, was allowed to be performed by Hindu activists.
THRO’s purpose in comparing the Ayodhya situation with the storming of the Golden Temple by the Indian army in 1984 is to show that India is fast becoming a Hindu India, intolerant of every community other than Hindus.
The demolition of the masjid is, therefore, a culmination of the fascist policies and practices adopted by the New Delhi towards its Minorities in the past which, of course, included army attack on the Golden Temple at Amritsar and Sikh carnage in the wake of assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. The Amritsar and Ayodhya incidents and their aftermath have given a clear and louder message that the fate of the minority nationalities in India is in peril.
International public opinion was rudely shaken in the wake of the demolition of the Muslim mosque. While the reactions in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Iran were along predictable lines, elsewhere in the Middle East the public opinion was then hopeful of good sense prevailing with the Government of India to rebuild the mosque 10 assuage the injured Muslim feelings. The people of Pakistan, Bangladesh and to an extent of Afghanistan were clear that the Masjid will not be rebuilt at the same site because at one time they belonged to the Indian subcontinent and are in a better position to assess the Indian reality. There has been extensive loss of Hindu shrines in these countries as a reaction to the Ayodhya developments. Even a few Sikh gurdwaras were also damaged. Such counter destruction of religious places in certainly an undesirable way of beginning one’s annoyance with Hindu fundamentalists.
The reactions in the USA, UK and other western countries have been influenced by the firsthand media reports on the Ayodhya episode. The repression on the Press by Hindu activists really shook the entire western media. Several US and UK journalists had literally to pay the price of Press freedom in India. What is noteworthy is the fact that the Indian police supported the Hindu fundamentalists rather than their media victims. The ‘Toronto Star’ in its editorial took notice of these incidents and said that the Indian government should examine the police role in sectarian battles that had left at least 1210 dead and 4600 injured since December 6, when Hindu militants destroyed the mosque at Ayodhya. TV footage of the incident showed paramilitary forces standing idly by as young fanatics attacked and dismantled the Muslim shrine. And in the orgy of slaughters that followed, “almost 80 to 909% of the killings across UP have been of Muslims with police bullets.” It confirms what the minority communities (in India) have been saying all along. Sikhs in New Delhi had similar experiences in the wake of the 1984 assassination of Indira Gandhi.
Thus, the world public opinion has been polarized against India. These incidents have put a question mark before India. Is India a democracy? Is India a secular country? Are the minorities safe in India? Will India survive as a democracy? Ibis naive to believe that the Indian political system rests on different foundations than what was evident at Ayodhya.
We in IHRO view the March 17 Bombay bomb blasts as a Muslim reaction against Hindu fundamentalism. The demolition of the mosque by Hindu fundamentalists backed by the conniving Indian state raised Muslim anger. This anger was further fuelled by the waves of anti-Muslim “riots” at Bombay and elsewhere in December and January. Targeted by the state sponsored “riots” was Muslim property all over, so, we see the blasts more as an indigenous phenomenon than an international one.
The Ayodhya events are bound to give birth to yet another independent Muslim state on the Indian mainland. Those who will struggle for that state are bound to be dubbed as terrorists. The operation Bluestar and the Ayodhya episode are mere milestones on the road to India’s destruction as a Hindu fundamentalist empire. Given the political Situation in India, the Sikhs are struggling for Khalistan, the people of Kashmir are in favor of an independent state of their Own and the situation in Assam and Tamil Nadu besides north eastern states is also disturbing.
The demolition of the Muslim mosque and its consequences, including Bombay bomb blasts, have given a jolt to India’s economic liberalization program, for no government or individual would like to invest its/his capital in a country which is facing, besides Other things, political as well as economic instability.
Indian Finance Minister Manmohan Singh admitted in the Parliament on April 26, 1993 that the “economic cost” of Ayodhya Incident and its aftermath was a RS 5,000crore loss of revenue receipts. He disclosed that there had been a distinct drop in collection of revenue from November Onwards. The Ayodhya incidents and the “riots” which followed elsewhere, particularly in Bombay had led to deceleration of economic growth, Dr.Singh told the Lok Sabha.
“We have to hang down our heads in shame for all the follies and crimes that are taking place in Kashmir today. Not only the Government but the Opposition m Parliament have not cared to demand a full scale discussion on the grave situation in Kashmir, What do we gain by pleading with the US to declare Pakistan a terrorist state when we ourselves have forfeited the trust of the people of Kashmir who on the very morrow of Independence had fought with bear arms 0 push back the armed marauders from Pakistan?” says Nikhil Chakaravartty, a political commentator and columnist in “The Pioneer’ (April 28,1993), a Delhi based national daily.
And similar is the situation in other minority regions. Now the question arises how would the Hindu majority ruled Indian: be able to keep together the jority regions like Punjab, Kashmir, Assam, Tamil Nadu and north eastern states, al gun point simple answer to this question [ that: It cannot, So, what’s the way out? How the democratic rights can: of the peoples in India and their secular values be restored, protected and further strengthened under the present political setup?
We as an organization are of the view that a few emotion-packed: measures on part on the Central government will not do the trick particularly in the cases of minority regions where the people’ are fighting for their liberation from the onslaught of the neo-colonists, What is needed is that the Center should prepare itself for a drastic, new thinking and pave the way for & negotiated settlements of the lingering problems, No harm will come to India if it grants a lib amount of autonomy to its An inbuilt mutual dependence different nations in India could provide in the new scheme Constitution which should’ also incorporate the UN principle of Peoples right of self-determination Where mutual dependence fails.
So far as the solution to the Babel Masjid is concerned, the IHRO in a resolution on December 10, 1992, the UN day, had demanded that the mosque should be constructed at the same site.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 7, 1993
