The ‘moderate philosopher’ Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s relationship vis-a-vis the the RSS, it’s ideological commitment as also his role during Ayodhya movement will remain unfathomable for his admirers and historians. One lesser debated chapter is when in the run-up to the gory episode of December 1992 the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had approached his ‘friend’ Vajpayee for help to find a negotiated settlement on the Temple movement.
The BJP stalwart had suggested him to talk to Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, another BJP veteran.
Once talks were started and at one point, the then Prime Minister even ignored the warnings from Sharad Pawar, his Defence Minister, not to trust BJP leaders. “P V Narasimha Rao had faith in Vajpayee and thus Shekhawat was immediately invited for talks in the PMO. Initially even Home Minister S B Chavan did not know about the exact nature of talks,” sources said.
“Three to four rounds of discussions took place between Shekhawat and Rao and Chavan was taken into confidence when it was zeroed down the RSS and VHP will agree that ‘disputed shrine’ be referred to the Supreme Court for an opinion,” the source said. Narasimha Rao trusted Vajpayee and other BJP leaders' assurance that they would ‘abide’ by the rule of law and protect the Masjid as was assured to the Supreme Court by the then UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh.
“So much was Rao’s faith in a section of BJP and RSS leaders especially after he started parleys with Shekhawat that the then Defence Minister Sharad Pawar and another minister Subodh Kant Sahay’s warnings not to trust Sangh Parivar were ignored,” says a source in the NCP.
Old timers in the BJP recall that Vajpayee, L K Advani and M M Joshi eagerly participated in the movement and Vajpayee also “had planned to go to Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, but decided not to do so when he saw the aggressive mood”. On December 5, 1992 – a day before the demolition of the historic Babri Masjid, Late Vajpayee had told a gathering in Lucknow that : “The Supreme Court has allowed Bhajan-Kirtan. One man cannot perform Bhajan alone. And many people need to gather for kirtan”, according to reports in ‘Outlook’ magazine and also mentioned in few books on the temple movement.
However, in a television interview later Vajpayee had said, “It (demolition) should not have happened. We tried to prevent it, but we did not succeed...We are sorry for that”.
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In this context, he blamed the mega episode to “one section of Kar Sevaks” and lamented that they went out of control and “they did something which was not to be done”.
In another media interaction, Vajpayee had termed December 6 (1992) development as “BJP’s worst miscalculation .....as a categorical assurance was given” to protect the Babri Masjid.
The opposition leaders, including from the Left parties, were not much convinced of Vajpayee’s statement and had dismissed these as “damage control exercise”.
“Ayodhya December 6, 1992 was also a proof that the RSS was fully in control of the movement and BJP was clear about its Hindu identity,” CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta had said later. It may be pointed out here that the Commission M S Liberhan, formed on December 16, 1992, in its report submitted in 2009, even named Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other BJP leaders as “pseudo moderates” saying all them had “violated the trust of the people”.
Ironically, the Liberhan Commission report had spared the Rao government of any severe criticism.
The report, was, however thrashed by the BJP leaders during the Parliament debate in November 2009.Late Vajpayee’s advise to party colleagues when they were desperate to enhance base in Uttar Pradesh was that the more BJP would try to search for a short-cut to power by way of strategies that reflect historical amnesia, the more difficult it would be.
Vajpayee's Last Journey
New Delhi, Aug. 17 A grateful nation bid a teary farewell to Bharat Ratna former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose mortal remains were consigned to flames with full state honours here on Friday evening.
Amid chanting of Vedic hymns, Vajpayee's adopted daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya
performed the last rites. She was joined by her daughter Niharika, who received the national flag
which had been draped on the casket carrying the mortal remains of former Prime Minister.
As the chanting of peace Mantras began, the body of Vajpayee was taken to the funeral deck, where sandalwood pyre had been prepared. The funeral pyre was lit by Vajpayee's daughter Namita at
1656 hours and a sea of moist eyed humanity bid final adieu to their beloved leader.
Gun salute was given by the armed forces as mourners chanted slogans 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Atalji Amar Rahe'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked visibly moved and could not conceal his emotions.
As the armed forces gave a gun salute to the departed leader, a pall of gloom descended over the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.
The President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan laid floral wreaths on Vajpayee's mortal remains.
The buglers sounded last post at 1614 hours as all dignitaries stood up to pay their last respect to the departed leader and observed two minutes silence.
Among the mourners included L K Advani, BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Sushma Swaraj, Harsh Vardhan, Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress leaders Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Thambi Durai and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Among the foreign dignitaries were Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and former
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali and Napal Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also laid wreaths.
Mr Vajpayee's final journey to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal on the banks of river Yamuna began from the BJP headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, a nearly five-kilometre long route which was packed with people from all walks of life.
The funeral procession began at around 1400 hours and reached Smriti Sthal 90 minutes later. A sombre looking Modi was seen walking along with BJP chief Amit Shah
and other party leaders. There were onlookers who clicked selfies and recorded the momentous occasion on mobile, while others tossed flowers.
Hundreds of Vajpayee admirers waved a final goodbye to the man whom many simply called "Atalji". Forty-five-year-old Naushad Ali Khan, a resident of East Delhi, said despite his utmost political differences with the BJP, he had great respect and faith in the leadership of 'Atalji'.
Military truck which pulled the flower bedecked cortege in which Mr. Vajpayee's body was placed waded through crowded road. In a rare gesture and putting all protocol norms at bay, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, looking sombre, walked a step behind the cortege. He was accompanied by BJP president Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.
Upon reaching the Smriti Sthal, the military cortege was escorted by slow marching columns of personnel drawn from the three services Army, Navy and Air Force walked ahead of the funeral procession. The route of Mr. Vajpayee's final journey was lined with thousands of mourners who showered rose petals on the cortege as it passed through ITO, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Netaji Subhash Marg before reaching Smriti Sthal. Not expecting the Prime Minister to walk along the entire route, mourners chanted ``Atalji Amar Rahe'' and ``Jab Tak Suraj Chand Rahega, Atalji ka Naam Rahega''.
The shower of rose petals was such that the entire cortege was covered with flowers.
Mobile phones were up in the air in the hands of people who wanted to click a final shot and capture the moment. The deluge of mourners, many old timers said, was something which the national capital had not seen before, a moving tribute to a politician who was poet at heart and whose appeal transcended the ideology of the party which he represented.
Security personnel, traffic policemen and the Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel had a tough time controlling the surging crowds. SPG men, tasked with protecting the Prime Minister, were seen instructing Delhi policemen to put up a rope barricade to prevent the surging crowd of mourners. The three service chiefs Gen Bipin Rawat, Admiral Sunil Lanba and Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa also paid their last respect.
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