NEW DELHI: Was it a secret deal between prime minister Narasimha Raoand the R.S.S. that had resulted in the Indian government keeping inactive for six hours while the Babri masjid was being destroyed brick by brick at Ayodhya by workers of the Hindu fundamentalist parties? Speculation in political circles is current once again on the factors that led to the destruction of the Muslim shrine. The occasion has been provided by the sudden resignation of human resources minister Arjun Singh from a subcommittee of the Indian central government which is drafting a “white paper” on the Babri issue for presentation to the Indian parliament later this month.

It is disclosed that Indian intelligence agencies had given a specific warning on November 21

That the law and order situation at Ayodhya would go out of control if the Kalyan Singhled B.J.P. government of U.P. was not dismissed and U.P. was not brought under central rule, Consequently, the powerful cabinet committee on political affairs decided on November 28 to dismiss the U.P. government.

Rao who left tor Tamil Nadu on November 29 asked officers to prepare papers for the eventuality, But on his return Rao sent an emissary to Nagpur, the headquarter of the R.S.S, for a last-minute patch up. It was a result of these secret moves that senior R.S.S. leader H.V.Seshadri started talking of symbolic preconstruction activities such singing of bhajans and kirtans at the December 6 rally at Ayodhya.

The most point is whether Rao’s inactivity for six hours was the result of a shock and absence of a contingency plan or deliberate and in accordance with the secret deal with the R.S.S.? But the central home ministry officers are freely being quoted to suggest that the government indeed had an emergency plan to prevent the Babri masjid destruction, But, again, the question is why such contingency plan not put into action.

Differences among senior Indian ministers have arisen on these questions, Arjun Singh, it is reported, wanted the white paper to rationally clarify all these aspects of the situation but other ministers such as Dinesh Singh and Pranab Mukherji are of the view that the white paper could not be turned into an enquiry report.

Article extracted from this publication >>  February 19, 1993