BABARI MASJID
R.K. Roy on the Sears of Ayodhya
The plain speaking by the clergy before the UP Governor in Bareilly that they would not forgive the Prime Minister, Mr. Narasimha Rao, for the demolition of the Babari Masjid, till it is rebuilt, underlines the Muslim psyche.
The Muslim community has never voted unitedly for any political party, but largely lent its support to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, where it constitutes about 16 per cent of the electorate. The community voted solidly against the Congress in 1977, angered by the forcible sterilization programme and the party lost every single Lok Sabha seat in the State. And its attitude has remained anti-Congress since 1989 Shilanyas in Ayodhya. The demolition of the Ayodhya structure anguished it further, although no political party even Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samajwadi Party - openly supported the demand for rebuilding the mosque. The community is in a quandary now, after the elation in 1993, when with its support the SP-BSP formed the Government in UP.
The BJP's strategy of working on the deep anguish within the BSP helped it to part ways... The Muslim community made numerous appeals for a rapprochement between the two, but to no avail. And today the community is confused as never before.
The SP and the BSP are regional outfits but unify contend that no Government could be formed at the Centre without their support, making it clear that their options remain open, in case of a hung parliament. Both the parties, in the Lok Sabha poll context, therefore do not project themselves as serious contenders for power.
Understandably the saffron party has the biggest stake in Uttar Pradesh and is proceeding cautiously.
The fact that Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura issues were sidestepped by the RSS Central Pratinidhi Sabha. in Lucknow, which gave a call to its volunteers to help pro- Hindutva candidates, demonstrates the post-poll calculations of the Sangh Parivar.
The fact that the Congress which was battered in three consecutive elections in Uttar Pradesh, has been relegated to the fourth position explains why there are fewer aspirants for its ticket... The Congress(T) led by Mr. N.D. Tiwari has lost its momentum and would appear to be sliding down. However, at the district level the impact of the split is more pronounced. The Centre's failure to announce its promised package for Uttarakhand with its 4th Lok Sabha seats has created another situation.
The open call for the boycott of elections by the Joint Action Committee and The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has created a law and order situation. The state administration will have to deal sternly with the agitationists to conduct a peaceful poll there. All the four seats were taken by the HJP in Uttarakhand in the 1991 Lok Sabha poll, with a leader like Mr. N.D. Tiwari losing to a lightweight.
(Source: The Hindu, 24 March, 1996)
Home Minister Chavan's Statement
11 March, 1996
The Centre would rebuild the Babari mosque at the same spot at Ayodhya if the Supreme Court gave its opinion that there was no temple prior to the disputed structure.
(Source: The Pioneer, 12 March, 1996)
Shahabuddin's Reply to Chavan
12 March, 1996
you on the Babari Masjid question "The Centre would The press has attributed the following statement to rebuild the Babari mosque at the same spot at Ayodhya if the Supreme Court gave its opinion that there was no temple prior to the disputed structure".
Called upon to give an opinion on a question of fact The Supreme Court has not been asked nor is it which has got no legal implication. The Supreme Court has asked the Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court to decide of title. The Government is bound by law to High Court or of the Supreme Court in its appellate execute the judicial order/judgement of the Allahabad jurisdiction, on the question, of title.
Assuming that a temple existed on the site sometime 1528 or even if a standing temple was demolished in in the past before the Babari Masjid was constructed in 1528 to build the Babari Masjid on that site, there is no law under which the Babari Masjid can be replaced by a temple.
We are, therefore, surprise your statement which made to the Supreme Court shows that the Government once again as in the case of the misleading reference continue to support the reactionary and illegal stand of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its allies. We, therefore, in the matter whether it shall be bound unconditional, by request you to kindly clarify the stand of the Government Babari Masjid, which is called the disputed structure by the judicial order/judgement on the question of title to the you, and the site on which it is stood.
No More Ayodhyas
Editorial, The People's Democracy,
10 December, 1995
The remembrance of December 6 requires constant vigilance to be maintained to ensure that the forces of majority communalism do not succeed in the nefarious game of heightening communal tensions by resorting to religious devices to rouse passions. The Hindutva forces are now engaged in an Ayodhya-type exercise at Mathura and Varanasi to foment communal passions.
The growth of the communal danger and the compromising attitude of the Congress(1) to it, are both inextricably connected with the Ayodhya dispute. It is essential, on this third anniversary of the crime at Ayodhya, that the democratic and secular forces firmly demand that the dispute be referred for a judicial verdict. It is an occasion to rededicate themselves to combat communalism in all forms.
