The BJP seems to have forgotten that on the fateful day, December 6, 1992, when the masjid was brought down in Ayodhya, Mr. Singh resigned acknowledging his failure to protect the structure and to keep the solemn assurances he had given to the Supreme Court and the National Integration Council ... Mr. Advani himself resigned as Leader of the Opposition, owning responsibility for the events that led to the demolition of the Ayodhya structure, admitting that he had "failed" as a leader to control the mob which took over. The party itself expressed "regrets" over the "unfortunate incident."
.. From 1989 to the end of 1992 the party's stance (was) that the Ayodhya issue was not justiciable as it was a "matter of faith", the party does not admit any contradiction. The Supreme Court, while rejecting the Presidential reference in the Ayodhya matter, stated it could and must be decided on the basis of the normal law of the land and that the High Court concerned was competent to do this. But the BJP to this day has not stated that it would abide by the court verdict. In fact, that is the heart of the dispute in Ayodhya.
The BJP's strategy, if one could so call it, is to let the other parties focus on the Ayodhya case. It continues to consider its own role in it heroic and sees no political danger in this. Rather, it blames the Congress for the events that led to the demolition.
Of course, the party would prefer to forget that immediately after December 6, 1992 its MPs in Parliament were united in shouting that ... Yeh to pehli jhanki hai, Mathura Kashi baki hai. That was as loud an affirmation of the party's own role in Ayodhya as one could expect. Yet the BJP, which carried on a virulent public campaign for building a Ram temple at the very site of the masjid and which gathered thousands of volunteers who pulled down the masjid in the presence of a galaxy of leaders of the party, is today pleading "not guilty" to the charge that it hatched a conspiracy to demolish the structure. (Source: The Hindu, 5 October 1997)
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BJP: Open Arms Policy In its search for alliance partners for the coming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has virtually adopted an "open arms" policy. It is hoping to cash-in on the open discontent and divisions within the Cong. (I) and the JD ... The BJP's goal is clear - it wants to capture power in New Delhi And to do so, it is willing to keep its various coalition partners in the States in good humour. The party is working on the presumption that its alliance partners in various States have political ambitions which are limited to a particular State. The BJP would be happy to help them get power in those states if they can help the BJP win a few more Lok Sabha seats. (Source: The Hindu, 11 December, 1997) |
