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It is with relief that the nation has witnessed the sixth anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid pass by without any major incident. The elaborate security arrangements made by the Central and state governments seemed to have paid off. However, it is the common people of the country who deserve to be complimented for the peace that prevailed on Sunday. They did not fall in the trap of either the Hindutva forces, who wanted the day to be commemorated as a Day of Courage, or the secularists, who described it as a Black Day.
Experience had taught the people that their participation in either the celebration or the observance of the day would have served no useful purpose. Rather, it would have vitiated the atmosphere. Consequently, the turnout, whether at Mathura or Varanasi or Chennai, was poor. There is little doubt that ordinary people are sick of political mobilisation in the name of religion, whether it is by the majority community or the minorities.
However, it is not the first time the peoplehave expressed their displeasure in this manner. All these years since the demolition, it is only those on the fringes of the polity who have taken part in such events. And to make up for the lack of grassroots support, the organisers had been resorting to violence as in Coimbatore.
But such violence has only served to disenchant the public further. Even those who fell under the sway of the Ayodhya movement when it was espoused by the BJP through L.K. Advani's Rath Yatra did not envisage the frenzied kar sevaks razing the decrepit structure to the ground on that wintry morning.
The demolition did not have their support as the drubbing in its strongholds that the BJP received in the Assembly elections that followed indicated. Not only did the party lose an issue to drum up popular support, it even lost its image as a liberal, secular party. Various political developments over the last six years show that the December 6 incident has proved a liability for the BJP.
It is not surprising, therefore, thatAdvani has described the demolition as a ``singularly unfortunate incident''. Coming as it does from a person who hitched the party to the Ayodhya bandwagon, this may seem a turnaround. Nonetheless, Advani's statement is a recognition of a political reality and it is an opinion which a large section in the BJP subscribes to.
Since, in the popular perception, Advani and Ayodhya are inseparable, he has had to pay a price for the ``singularly unfortunate'' incident. The moment he mounted the Rath at Somnath and set out for Ayodhya, his image underwent a metamorphosis. His ``ideological rigidity'' cannot be an asset particularly when the BJP has to be accommodative towards its allies.
By way of comparison, if Vajpayee emerged as the natural choice for the leadership of the BJP-led coalition, it was because of his flexibility and greater acceptability. Seen against this backdrop, Advani's statement made immediately after defending the secular character of the Sufi shrine in Chikmangalur could be a clevermove to own up his mistake and shore up his image. Even so, it is a welcome realisation that the demolition was a blunder. Hopefully, he and his partymen will now ensure that such acts are never repeated again.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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