Commentary/Vir Sanghvi
Never condemn the VHP-- you never know when you will need them
At that time, many Muslims responded that it was not the Babri Masjid that mattered. Yes, all right, it was just another mosque
while Hindus claimed that the spot marked the birthplace of a
great god. But the moment Muslims said that they were willing
to relocate the mosque, a sort of saffron domino effect would
come into play and they would be forced to abandon one mosque
after another on similar grounds.
They pointed out that the VHP had already identified Mathura and
Kashi as suitable locations for Ayodhya-style agitations. Muslims
could not, therefore, afford to give way on the Babri Masjid.
This argument was repeatedly put to the BJP leadership by the
media. Without exception, the party's senior leaders -- L K Advani,
A B Vajpayee, Murli Manohar Joshi, etc. -- reiterated that Mathura
and Kashi were VHP issues. They were not on the BJP agenda and
Muslims were mistaken about the domino effect.
I was never terribly convinced by this assurance. Hadn't Ayodhya
been a VHP issue as well? That didn't stop the BJP from clambering
onto the rath when there were votes to be garnered.
My doubts grew in the aftermath of the Ayodhya demolition. I still
remember the scene in the Lok Sabha after L K Advani was arrested.
BJP members stormed the well of the House and prevented the proceedings
from taking place.
One of their slogans had a familiar ring to it. It was, Yeh
to keval jhaanki hai, Kashi Mathura baaki hai.
That's right. The old VHP issue was now a BJP slogan. And far
from backing down after the Ayodhya debacle, the BJP was actually
flaunting its willingness to create more trouble on the same kind
of issue.
Though the BJP has been quiet about Mathura-Kashi since then,
the issue did crop up as a VHP agitation during the brief life
of the BJP-supported Mayawati government in UP. It protested when
Mayawati refused to permit a puja at the mandir and that refusal
was linked -- in some a accounts, at least -- to the BJP's decision
to withdraw support to her government.
After Ayodhya, we know the pattern. The VHP raises the issues,
the BJP distances itself from the demands and then when the time
is right, makes the issues its own.
The VHP has now raised the Mathura issue again. And I wonder how
the BJP will react. It has portrayed itself as a moderate party
that has left the madness of the Ayodhya years behind and moved
to the middle ground under the leadership of A B Vajpayee.
It is easy enough to test the BJP's new-found moderation. Under
Advani, the formula was always the same: distance yourself from
the VHP but never condemn its demands -- you never know when you
will need them.
If the party has really changed, then there is a simple enough
test. Even a person who is sympathetic to the VHP's claims on
Mathura and Kashi will recognise that there are many ways of
resolving disputes without insisting that mosques are shifted
or destroyed.
It cannot take much for Atal Behari Vajpayee -- so moderate and
reasonable in his public statements -- to see that what the VHP
is asking for poses a threat to the stability of India. All he
has to do is to condemn the VHP's objective.
He needs to say that it is quite intolerable for one community
to keep demanding that another shift its places of worship and
that the BJP guarantees to the Muslims that it will oppose any
attempt to move or demolish the Mathura and Kashi mosques.
Simple enough? I think so. If Vajpayee wants to indicate that
his BJP is different then he must condemn what Advani would only
distance himself from.
Will he do it? I don't know. But I rather think that we will judge
him on the decision he comes to on issues such as this one.
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