... For BJP, Ayodhya has proved to be a goldmine terms of electoral gains! In 1984, the party could hard manage to get two members elected to the parliament However, after the Mandir-Masjid issue burst upon the national scene, the BJP hasn't looked back. In the 11th Lok Sabha, it had 173-member-strong presence. On reason for this is that the party has been able to swing sizeable chunk of Hindu votes by exploiting the religious sentiments ...
Knowing this and its electoral implications, the BJP leaders-dismiss any evidence that goes against their stand on the issue. They have rejected all proof or logic again Ram temple having ever stood at the place where Babari Masjid was erected on the ground ... In short, they must have their way at any cost. It is against this background that Thackeray's suggestion for erecting a nation monument at the demolished Babari. Masjid's site assumed significance.
To be frank, Thackeray has created a lot embarrassment for and even anger in the entire leaders of. the BJP. The fact that it comes from the Shiv Sen 'paramukh' (Head) is something that the party can neither swallow nor vomit save at the cost of losing power Maharashtra. However, Thackeray's suggestion is indeed sensible. If accepted by Hindu and Muslim leaders on them implemented, it could indeed ease social religious tension between these two most-popular communities. Some political analysts think that political parties opposed to the BJP like the United Front, Congress and - so on have welcomed Thackeray suggestion in order to nettle the 'Sangh Parivar' ...
... Thackeray's suggestion could raise lot of political dust. And it is just possible that a national debate on issue may be revived on the problem in the near future.
It is also possible that even the BJP may well made to change its rigid stand by its newly-four political allies in the country, especially those in southern states. After all it is not easy, or even politics feasible for a political party aspiring to capture power the Centre, to continue sticking to its rigid stand long. Already political allies of BJP like the Sam Party, for instance, have decided to delink themselves from BJP on Mandir-Masjid issue.
Other BJP allies may also follow this route if t find it helpful to come to power. However, right now BJP can neither drop the Mandir-Masjid issue for fear losing votes nor seem to reject suggestions that to sensible and reasonable for solving this thorny problem. This is a dilemma that the BJP finds itself in and which the Muslim majority part of Jammu is to provoke communal violence and create a sense of insecurity in the minority to encourage its migration. If Hindus could be provoked to retaliate in Hindu majority districts of Jammu and a vicious circle of retaliation could develop, Pakistan could succeed in creating an emotional and ideological support base in a strategically crucial belt between Hindu majority area of J&K valley which can help to it more than recover the lost ground in the Kashmir Valley. The new phase of militancy, if not checked in time, might turn out to be far more explosive, in terms of human life and values than the one that government claims to have contained.
Nothing would thus be more fatal than to treat the new phase as a spill over of militancy in Kashmir or as a last desperate bid of a frustrated or a defeated foe ..(Source: The Janata, 24 May, 1998)
