Shah Bano case and Rajiv Gandhi's decision to unlock gates of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya redefined Indian politics ::::: Rajiv gandhi, a young leader with a historic mandate, was seen as a symbol of change

Last 50 years in two parts ::::

* Shah Bano case and Rajiv Gandhi's decision to unlock gates of Babri Masjid redefined Indian politics 

** In last 25 years --- since 2000 .... Election of Modi Govt in May 2014 was another mega-defining moment

 The Bofors scandal was the moment when the Rajiv Gandhi government unravelled.

 Despite the fear of retaliation and the possibility of the magazine being shut down, India Today chose to publish the explosive revelations that directly targeted a sitting Prime Minister.

The episode also examined the Mandal Commission, which Raj Chengappa termed “the biggest social upheaval India has seen,” fracturing politics along caste lines. Simultaneously, militancy reared its ugly head in Kashmir after the alleged rigging of the 1987 election.

“We saw defeated candidates, complete moderates, switch from the ballot to the bullet, with guns provided by Pakistan,” said former editor Inderjit Badhwar.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, was branded as a moment of institutional failure. 

Even as the Babri structure was in danger; the PV Narasimha Rao government sat on its hands.

When the mosque was brought down, “dome by dome”, the headline in 'India Today' was ‘Nation’s Shame’ -- reportedly given by Aroon Purie himself.

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The Letter from the Editor -- the signed note of Purie said --

"... We in the media got an unsavoury taste of the future if these self proclaimed warriors of Hinduism were ever to rule. .,.. Although they were attempting to rewrite history, they did not want their misdeeds to be recorded for posterity".

The aftermath of Babri were communal riots, the 1993 Mumbai blasts and the arrival of mass-casualty terrorism.

The episode closed with Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and the economic reset under PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. Liberalisation “lifted the shackles” on the economy, unleashing private enterprise and a new middle class.

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Rajiv Gandhi’s first two years in office were the “Camelot years”, said India Today Group Editorial Director (Publishing) Raj Chengappa. But they didn’t last due to defining missteps.

Senior journalist Shekhar Gupta described how the Shah Bano case and the decision to unlock the gates of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya as “blunders that redefined Indian politics,” angering the Congress’s support base and accelerating the rise of the BJP.

Rajiv gandhi, a young leader with a historic mandate, was seen as a symbol of change. But he was a reluctant politician, noting his own words on the uncertainty of power, “When I’m a pilot, when I move a lever I know exactly what will happen. As prime minister, when I move a lever, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”