End of the Road for Fascist Lies
Sid Harth
Vajpayee asks allies to exercise restraint
NEW DELHI: Apparently displeased with their repeated attacks, Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday said whatever may be
the "political compulsions" of the regional allies on the Ayodhya issue
they should exercise "restraint" while stating their views on it.
Addressing the BJP parliamentary party meeting here, he said even
though the allies may have "regional interests" to take care of, they
should also bear in mind "national interests" which are of utmost
importance, party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters here.
Vajpayee's remarks come in the wake of allies' attack on his
controversial statements on the Ayodhya issue.
He said Vajpayee reiterated the view that the Ayodhya issue could be
resolved either through a court verdict or through a dialogue between
the two communities.
Thanking the allies for supporting the government on the Opposition
censure motion in the Lok Sabha, the prime minister appreciated that
they did not "fall into the trap of the Congress" and this
had "strengthened" the NDA, Malhotra said.
Vajpayee told the meeting that the government had no role to play in
resolving the Ayodhya issue.
The prime minister said had the Opposition not stalled the proceedings
in Parliament over the issue, there would have been no need for him to
speak on it outside the House, Malhotra said.(PTI)
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/19indu1.htm
Govt defeated in Rajya Sabha on Ayodhya issue
NEW DELHI: The NDA government on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing first-
ever defeat in the Rajya Sabha when a Congress-sponsored Opposition
motion on the Ayodhya issue was carried by 121 votes to 86 after Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected the demand for the resignation
of the three chargesheeted ministers.
In spite of Vajpayee's call that the issue, which he said had divided
the nation, be buried, the House after two days of heated debate voted
for the censure motion with the Opposition charging that there had
been "constant provocative utterances" by the Sangh Parivar
and "sinister activities" continued at the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-
Babri Masjid site.
In a last minute bid to avert voting, Vajpayee in his spirited reply
said he had never favoured the demolition of the structure and there
were only two options to resolve the contentious issue.
He said the Ayodhya issue could be resolved either through a direct
unconditional dialogue between Hindus and Muslims or by leaving the
matter to the courts to decide.
Vajpayee firmly rejected the demand for the resignation of his three
colleagues L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti saying it
was the prerogative of the prime minister to decide whom he should keep
in his cabinet and certainly not the Opposition.
He accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of using the
Ayodhya issue for the political purpose of dividing NDA allies and
lauded his alliance partners for standing by him.
Vajpayee said the government had no intention of interfering with the
process of law in the Ayodhya case and that "we will abide by the court
decision".
Defending his three ministerial colleagues, Vajpayee said there were no
charges of corruption or misuse of position against them.
Prime minister was interrupted by the Opposition when he described the
Ayodhya agitation as a "movement" and that it had to viewed in a
different perspective.
He invited the Opposition to sit with the government to formulate a
code of conduct for ministers saying the "parameters should be
uniform."
"You can't have one norm in Bihar and one in Delhi," Vajpayee said and
blamed the Opposition for raising the Ayodhya issue for political
purposes with communal overtones.
He said he did not support the demolition of structure in Ayodhya nor
did he favour construction of temple at the disputed site.
Saying he did not want to elaborate on details of the Ayodhya dispute,
Vajpayee said if it wanted, the then ruling Congress could have found a
solution to the issue and accused then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao
of "deliberately" delaying it.
He referred to the visit of the then home minister S B Chavan to the
shilanyas site saying on reaching the spot he had asked where the
mosque was.
Chavan, who was present in the House, refuted this saying after
visiting the the Ram mandir he had wanted to go to the mosque site.
The prime minister had a brush with the Samajwadi Party when he accused
the party of vying with the Congress to exploit the Ayodhya dispute to
get electoral mileage.
The leader of the Samajwadi Party Janeshwar Mishra retorted saying
Vajpayee's persistent affinity with the temple smacked of the "Jinnah
theory" that Pakistan was for Muslims and India for Hindus.
Vajpayee said since 1992 he had refrained from referring to the Ayodhya
issue as it was not part of the national agenda of governance.
"But if reporeters ask me questions, should I not reply," he said,
clarifying he had not made any statement on the Ayodhya issue.
Persisting on the Congress role in the Ayodhya issue, Vajpayee asked
was it not the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who began his election
campaign from Ayodhya. "Probably he had some affinity for Ram in his
heart."
Ram was in the heart of every Indian, he said quoting Urdu poet-
laureate Mohammed Iqbal had written about Lord Rama. Rama was an ideal,
Iqbal had said in his verses, Vajpayee said.
The prime minister asserted that he was committed to the NDA's national
agenda despite minor differences and said attempts by the Congress and
Opposition to drive a wedge between allies had failed.
He warned the Opposition that their moves to split the coalition
government was fraught with danger as it would hit the evolution of the
coalition era in the country. "Tomorrow you could be on the receiving
end. It is a double edged weapon."
Vajpayee said he had given no clean chit to the three minister's. "We
have left it to courts to decide. But by moves in the House it is the
Opposition which is prejudging the issue," he added.
The prime minister said he had been pained by Opposition allegations of
him being communal saying that his last 40 years in public life had
been an open book and nobody could question his secular credentials.
He said the outcome of the trial of strength in the Rajya Sabha was
known, but what he could not understand was why the Opposition was
raking up the Ayodhya issue now, almost eight years after the disputed
structure had been demolished.
He also said he had been hurt by a woman member's observation during
the course of the debate that she did not recognise Vajpayee as her
prime minister. "This is one nation, one flag and there is only one
prime minister. We have to accept this fact."
On the prime minister's reply, Congress member Pranab Mukherjee
reffered to Vajpayee's calling the censure motion a numbers game. "In
parliamentary democracy numbers are vital. You are the prime minister
because you have the numbers in the Lok Sabha. So numbers should not be
belittled."
He said it was definitely the prime minister's perogative to pick his
ministerial team. "You picked up the chargesheeted ministers in 1998
and then you dropped two ministers. But this perogative can't be
selective," Mukherjee said.(PTI)
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/19indu2.htm
Ayodhya is a movement: Vajpayee
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday asserted that
Ayodhya was a "movement" and appealed to Opposition parties not to
politicise the issue for electoral gains as it would only divide the
country.
Replying to a two-day discussion in the Rajya Sabha on a Congress
sponsored nine-party motion on Ayodhya, Vajpayee also warned that any
communalisation of the issue would only create fresh tensions.
"Let Ayodhya not divide us," he said assuring the Opposition that the
government would abide fully by the verdict of the Supreme Court on the
issue if the political parties so desire.
Vajpayee made it clear that the NDA government was committed to the
national agenda of governance which had kept out such contentious
issues and rejected once again the demand for resignation of three
charge-sheeted ministers in the Ayodhya demolition case.
On the demand for resignation of three ministers, L K Advani, Murli
Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati, Vajpayee said if anybody was implicated
in a court case, he should resign but in case of Ayodhya there is
a "difference".
"Ayodhya is a movement. A movement which was being sought to be opposed
by you (Opposition)," he said amidst shouts of shame shame from the
opposition benches.
Ayodhya case should be differentiated, Vajpayee said adding he was
willing to sit with the Opposition to evolve parameters for ministers
to resign on the question of propriety.
"Parameters should be uniform," he said adding there cannot be one set
of rules for the three Central ministers and another for RJD leader
Laloo Prasad Yadav. (PTI)
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/19indu3.htm
Uma says kar sevaks refused to listen
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: Union sports minister Uma Bharati, deposing before the
Liberhan Ayodhya Commission on Tuesday, pursued with vigour PM
Vajpayee's claim that she, L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were
asking kar sewaks to stop the demolition.
Much of what she said happened on December 6, 1992, at Ayodhya was at
substantial variance with what the then Faizabad assistant
superintendent of police Anju Gupta, had told the commission earlier.
According to Uma Bharati, on December 6 she had reached Ram Katha Kunj
in the morning, greeted Murli Manohar Joshi and took a seat behind him.
Apart from Joshi and Advani, Bharati initially didn't remember the
names of people on the dais but when the commission's counsel started
naming them one by one, she replied in the affirmative. Those present
were Acharya Dharmendra, Swami Parmananda, Sadhvi Rithambara, BL Sharma
Prem, Ashok Singhal, H V Seshadri.
Then Bharati claimed she doesn't remember who made speeches. ``I was at
the back and there was lot of commotion on the stage,'' she said.
``When I was called to speak, I could see the disputed structure and
some people climbing atop it. Therefore, I could not speak. I could
only recite Hanuman Chalisa and then retreated to the rear. I remember
Advaniji, Joshiji, myself and Singhalji appealing to the people to come
down.''
A ``tensed'' Advani called her backstage and asked her to go near the
disputed structure to stop people from demolishing it, she said.
According to Bharati, a lady police officer (Anju Gupta, whom she
refused to identify) was called by Advani and asked to take Bharati to
a spot from where she could tell kar sewaks to come down.
``On reaching the spot, I told the kar sewaks over megaphone to come
down. When they came down, I told them to protest through democratic
means. They asked me who I was? On learning my identity, they asked me
to go to hell,'' Bharati said.
But Anju Gupta's statement to the commission - available with The Times
of India - contradicts Bharati's claim. ``To the best of my knowledge,
nobody had asked the kar sewaks to come down from the structure,'' Anju
Gupta had said.
According to Gupta's testimony, the demolition was pre-planned. ``On
December 5, IG Lucknow had briefed gazetted officers and said that
there were definite reports by intelligence of attack. Attack on
mediapersons was simultaneous and pre-planned. First dome fell within
less than two hours, which was not possible without advance planning,
all sorts of implements were available.
``All the leaders, including Advani, Joshi, Katiyar and Uma Bharati
present on the manch (stage), were rejoicing the demolition of the
disputed structure and having sweets which were being distributed.''
Bharati summed up her mood on December 6 thus: ``I felt the same way as
you feel for someone whom you don't want to see, but don't wish death
either.'' Bharati has now been asked to depose on January 15.
Meanwhile, an application was filed by M M Kashyap on behalf of Mohd.
Aslam to summon PM Vajpayee before the commission, following his
statement that Ram temple be constructed at the disputed site and some
other site be allocated for construction of masjid.
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