Why Vajpayee said - "Rokne ka koi sawal hi nahi" ? :::: Babri Masjid demolition :: A test case of 'radical fringes' being able to give a LOUDER message that they represent the 'silent' majority

Paradox is never a simple word. 

As the first dome of Babri Masjid fell .... cronches blew and trumpets blared. 'Jai Shri Ram' was the slogan .... and the sadhus wielded their glittering tridents.

The Babri 'structure' or Masjid demolition on Dec 6, 1992 was in effect an explosion waiting to happen after Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress regime had given a mega sop to Hindu hardliners and ordered to open the gates and allow a makeshift temple on the controversial site. Of course the subsequent politics associated with it helped the cause of BJP's growth and as well as near acceptability of the Hindutva principles in Indian life. 

Today's India is more than just Hindu mobilisation. It's often called 'Modi-fication' of Indian democracy. Narendra Modi is not just the Prime Minister. He is a great ambassador of Indian civilisational history - and that is certainly banking on the foundation of Hindutva values and ideologies.  

On November 9, 2019, it appeared December 6th never happened.

The Indian judiciary made history. The Supreme Court of India ordered that the disputed holy site of Ayodhya in the communally sensitive state of Uttar Pradesh should be given to Hindus. 

For historical reasons and otherwise; Muslims are generally taken as ‘historical entity and group of outsiders, traders and invaders’. The claims of the Muslim side on the site at Ayodhya were rejected and they were ‘dispossessed’ of the 16th century Babri Mosque. 

The Supreme Court also ordered that Muslims should be given five acres of land at Ayodhya itself but away from the disputed site.

History, according to Victor Hugo, is partly an ‘echo’ of the past in the future. History is related to time and nothing flies in this mortal world and perhaps immortal universe faster than the time. 

But talking about Dec 6, 1992 - one cannot blame only one party and spare the other. If we take BJP and Sangh parivar as one unit --- this section callously had forgotten for a few weeks or days that they acquire legitimacy through ballot box and not by mobocracy. On the other hand; let's take Congress, the communists and other anti-BJP parties and even the so-called Left liberal intellectuals. Their Secular bus never followed the rule of the roads. 

The Narasimha Rao government had failed to protect the structure as it never had the courage and conviction to enforce the law of the land. The Leftists pursued their Muslim appeasement card because the polity suited them in West Bengal and Kerala. The intellectuals did not mind encouraging Muslims fight a losing battle even after archaeology studies had stated that a Ram existed on the spot.

The so-called pro-Left historians did the worst. Likes of Romilla Thappar lacked specific expertise in the medieval period, during which the Babri Masjid was constructed, yet still provided "expert opinions and testimonies in legal and public fora". 

Uma Bharti and L K Advani - Dec 6, 1992 

The  Journey:

In 1989-90, when Ayodhya’s land dispute had emerged as a major issue, I was in my days of baptism into journalism far off in the wilds of Nagaland. It was the era of post-Shilanyas politics (thanks to Rajiv era), the Congress party had opened up a Pandora’s Box. The Hindutva mascot L K Advani had launched the Rath Yatra and ultimately BJP withdrew support to the VP Singh-led country’s first multi-party government. 

‘Ayodhya’ wrote a chapter in itself in September 2010 when the Allahabad High Court pronounced its verdict. In circa 2019, the world had changed yet again – in more ways than one. The Hindutva assertion was a reality especially with the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah at the helm of affairs. 

But the seed of that assertion was kicked off by the Temple Movement and its protagonists – L K Advani and Ashok Singhal. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee – given out as a moderate face and poet-politician, came under attack later.

Vajpayee, according to a video accessed by the media revealed, that on December 5, 1992 he had said that – “Rokne ka to sawal hi nahin hai (There is no question of stopping us). Tomorrow we will not be violating any court order if we perform kar seva)”

In 2025 -- we perhaps no longer say -- we will have to wait and see.

Writing is on the wall. Hindu priests were invited even for inauguration of new Parliament premises. Roads, railway stations and towns are being renamed. Hindus see these as assertion of their legitimate rights.

Uttar Pradesh has a monk-turned-neta as the chief minister. And he is understandably going strong. 

But the post-modern story of Ayodhya is demonstrative symbol of Indian democracy – which is far messier than most other democracies. 

But India is marching ahead towards greater glories. The Indian leader Narendra Modi hosts and pledges stronger friendship with Russian president Vladimir Putin. It is a sort of challenge to the unwritten diktats of the US and the western powers including London - which once ruled India. 

But Bharat or even Hindustan is a much more complex and larger country than most. Its millennia old. It is commendable that Hindu Indians still have friends amongst Muslims and the latter also take part in their day to day activities like their counterparts in the majority community.

People may have grievances; but they have faith in the courts. Children go toschools, offices and markets -- take part in celebrations together. They might have been polarised; but the nation has not stopped.

It is far stronger.

Take Away:

But violence between Hindus and Muslims are reported often. In West Bengal; there is an element of bigger concern. BJP leaders say - "Marchhey Musalman, mochhey musalman (Muslims may be killing people; but they are also being killed most). 

A disgruntled politician has played up with fire when he says a new Babri masjid will come up in the state. 

One only remembers the old Doordarshan TV-shots of 1992. On Ayodhya's horizon, smoke were rising upsky from homes which had just been torched. The miracle of Dec 6th (1992) lay in the crowds.

I remember an old school master in Guwahati had then said - "The demolition and the killings in Ayodhya and in Mumbai .. were all God Ram's Leela. But is it the Ram Rajya?"

ends