Of Faithful, Faithless and Fucked up Fascists
Sid Harth
Deshpande, Katiyar explode RSS chief's `bomb'
SHARAD GUPTA
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 12: Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande and the BJP MP from
Faizabad, Vinay Katiyar, who were both present during the demolition of
Babri Masjid, have punctured the ``bomb theory'' floated by RSS chief K
S Sudarshan recently.
``I never said a bomb explosion caused destruction of the Babri
mosque,'' Deshpande, who is co-chairperson of Gandhi Samadhi at
Rajghat, told The Indian Express today. She added she was not an expert
who could detect the use of explosives in the demolition of the mosque
on December 6, 1992.
Deshpande, whose interview to an author, Harish Chander, seven years
ago had led to fresh controversy on the use of explosives in the
demolition, denied she had given a clean chit to the three ministers --
Uma Bharti, L K Advani and M M Joshi. ``They were asking kar sevaks to
come down from the domes not to prevent the mosque from being
demolished but to avoid their getting killed under the debris of the
domes,'' she said.
However, in her seven-year-old interview (a transcript of which is
available with The Indian Express) she seemed to have exonerated the
BJP leaders. ``P V (Narasimha Rao) saheb is not to be blamed and I
think those (A B Vajpayee and L K Advani) who promised him that nothing
would happen there are also not to be blamed as some others were
responsible. It was perhaps beyond their control also,'' she had told
Chander, blaming the whole thing on ``hired experts''.
The founder-president of the Bajrang Dal, Katiyar, has described
Sudarshan's bomb theory as an ``insult to the kar sevaks who laid down
their lives for the Ram temple in Ayodhya''.
``There was, of course, an explosion in Ayodhya eight years ago -- an
explosion of the people's sentiments and not a chemical explosion, as
Sudarshan would like us to believe,'' he says. Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Pramod Mahajan, who was addressing kar sevaks when the
demolition started, could also vouch for it, said Katiyar.
He says he had, along with security forces, searched the site but found
no substance in messages being received by the intelligence agencies
that the kar sevaks were trying to smuggle in bombs inside coconut
shells.
Deshpande claimed to have gone to Ayodhya to protect the mosque with
the help of Gandhian volunteers. Asked what made her keep silent for
eight years, she said she was too sad. She remained non-committal on
whether the three BJP leaders were provoking kar sevaks for razing the
mosque or not. ``There was lot of noise and slogan-shouting. I really
could not make out who was saying what,'' she said.
In her interview to Chander, she had claimed that experts in
demolishing buildings -- and not the kar sevaks -- had destroyed the
mosque. ``The domes were felled from inside as they leaned to one side
before falling. It can be done only by experts,'' she said today.
Katiyar supports Deshpande's statement about the manner in which the
mosque was pulled down but stresses that no expert was hired for the
job. Walls of the 600-year-old structure were already collapsing under
the impact of iron pipes -- taken out from barricades -- used by the
kar sevaks. ``It was then easy for the kar sevaks to pull down the
sturdy domes with the help of ropes snatched from the security forces.
This explains the leaning of the domes before the collapsed,'' he said.
Katiyar claims the mob of two lakh kar sevaks ignored appeals made by
all BJP and VHP leaders not to demolish the mosque. ``The fact that
some of them even pulled VHP general secretary Ashok Singhal's dhoti
for attempting to prevent them from mounting the domes indicated their
anguish and fury,'' he said.
``The kar sevaks were fed up with the symbolic kar seva they were asked
to perform and their pent-up anger resulted in the temple movement
getting out of the leaders' hands,'' he asserted.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/13edit7.htm
SACRED SPACE
Integrated Approach
Henceforth such is the Will of God:
No man shall coerce another;
No person shall exploit another.
Each individual, has the inalienable birthright to seek and pursue
happiness and self-fulfilment.
Love and persuasion is the only law of social coherence.
Guru Granth Sahib
Allah doth command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they
are due; and when ye judge between man and man that ye judge with
justice; verily how excellent is the teaching which He giveth you! for
Allah is He who heareth and seeth all things.
The Qur'an
As we all know, disregard for the natural inheritance of human beings
has brought about the danger that now threatens the peace of the world
as well as the chance to live of endangered species.
Such destruction of the environment and the life depending upon it is a
result of ignorance, greed and disregard for the richness of all living
things. This disregard is gaining great influence. If peace does not
become a reality in the world and if the destruction of the environment
continues as it does today, there is no doubt that future generations
will inherit a dead world.
H H The Dalai Lama
Were one to observe with an eye that discovereth the realities of all
things, it would become clear that the greatest relationship that
bindeth the world of being together lieth in the range of created
things themselves, and that cooperation, mutual aid and reciprocity are
essential characteristics in the unified body of the world of being,
inasmuch as all created things are closely related together and each is
influenced by the other or deriveth benefit therefrom, either directly
or indirectly.
Abdu'l Baha,
The Bahai faith
http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20001213/ina13055.html
Vajpayee said he won't change stand
NEERJA CHOWDHURY
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 12: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee does not
intend in any way to go back on his recent remarks on Ayodhya which had
whipped up the storm in Parliament. He had favoured construction of a
temple at the disputed site and the mosque somewhere else. Today at a
meeting of the parliamentary party of the BJP, he is believed to have
given the assurance that he would stick to his stand.
Three hours before a consensus was hammered out at an all-party meeting
called by the Lok Sabha Speaker in his chamber, Vajpayee had told his
party MPs to stay put in the capital. He told them that if the
Opposition continued to stall the House, Parliament would be adjourned
sine die in a couple of days. And before that he intended to table a
written statement in the House explaining his position and then address
the nation.
The Government faces no threat though the BJP has agreed to a
discussion under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha which entails a vote. The
NDA has a majority in the Lok Sabha and the PM has already secured from
the allies a promise to back the Government in Parliament though they
are the ones who are likely to be most embarrassed by a vote in the Lok
Sabha. Mamata Bannerji and M.Karunanidhi face assembly elections in
three months and Chandrababu Naidu faces local elections in February.
The resolution passed ``unanimously'' by the NDA last Sunday had
rejected the Opposition's demand for the resignation of L.K.Advani,
Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti. Mamata Bannerji and Farooq Abdullah
had demurred on the issue and given notes of dissent. But NDA convenor
George Fernandes had insisted that rejection of the resignation demand
be included in the resolution.
Mamata had also complained to Vajpayee against Uma Bharti, who has
asserted that the temple would be built at the disputed site. Advani
tried to placate Mamata today by reminding his party MPs at the meeting
that the BJP had only one spokesman and that they should remember that.
The fact is that during the past three days the MPs of all parties were
beginning to panic over the possibility that there could be an
``accident'' that may lead to an election. No one had wanted polls in
1997 and in 1999 but the situation had spun out of control. The
consensus evolved today offered a face-saver to the Congress.
When the Congress had raised the demand for the ministers' resignation,
Advani's supporters had blamed Brajesh Mishra, the PM's principal
secretary, for insisting that Harin Pathak resign from the Government
after charges were framed against him. There is a section in the BJP
which feels that Mishra gave a handle to the Opposition to beat the BJP
with.
As the days wore on and the issue became complicated, the Congress
found itself in the position of Abhimanyu who entered the chakravyooh
but did not know how to get out of it.
The last seven days have been an exercise in image building both by the
Congress, which was firming up its support amongst the minorites, and
by the PM, who has reached out to the party's traditional votebank. The
traditional worker of the party and of the RSS, who works for the BJP
in elections, is in an upbeat mood.
Vajpayee has also bought peace with the RSS, which has been on a
collision course with him over the Government's functioning. The RSS
leadership has reportedly conveyed its satisfaction to Vajpayee and
told him that having clarified his stand on Ayodhya, he should not do
anything to jeopardise the Government.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.hinduonline.com/today/stories/01130001.htm
LS to discuss PM's remarks under Rule 184 today
By Javed M. Ansari
NEW DELHI, DEC. 12. The six-day standoff in Parliament between the
Government and the Opposition over the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B.
Vajpayee's statement on the Ayodhya issue ended today, with both sides
agreeing to a discussion under Rule 184 in the Lok Sabha. The
resignations of the three chargesheeted Ministers and Mr. Vajpayee's
statement will be discussed tomorrow, while the Prime Minister's reply,
in the form of an intervention, and voting will take place on Thursday.
The back-off by both sides, followed an agreement hammered out in the
chamber of the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr. G. M. C. Balayogi, this
afternoon. Accordingly, an amended motion, prepared with the help of
the Lok Sabha Secretariat, and incorporating the two issues - the
resignations of the three Ministers and the issues arising out of the
Prime Minister's attempt to exonerate them - would be discussed under
Rule 184.
At a meeting this morning of floor leaders convened by Mr. Balayogi,
the two sides got down to work to arrive at a workable solution.
Earlier, in the CPI(M) leader, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee's room, the
Opposition managed to narrow down its differences and favoured a
discussion under Rule 184. The Samajwadi Party's Mr. Mulayam Singh
Yadav appeared to have agreed to drop his demand for a discussion on
the Prime Minister's statement.
The Government too seemed to be easing off with the Parliamentary
Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, indicating a willingness for a
discussion, but with a rider that the Prime Minister first be allowed
to make a statement and the Opposition to follow with its motion. The
Opposition promptly rejected the proposal and the issue was once again
deadlocked. Mr. Mahajan then promised to get back after speaking to the
Prime Minister.
With the House adjourned within minutes of assembling, the two sides
met in the Speaker's room at 12.30 p.m. At the meeting, where Mr. K.
Yerran Naidu of the TDP and the MDMK's Mr. Vaiko were present, the
Government came around to the idea of a discussion under the Rule 184.
The motion, whose draft version was broadly agreed upon, is likely to
focus on the Ministers' resignations and seek the House's disapproval
of the Prime Minister's statement attempting to exonerate the three
Ministers - Mr. L. K. Advani, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms. Uma
Bharti.
The Speaker's office received 54 notices, 45 of them from the Congress
and the rest from the CPI(M), SP, BSP, and the AIADMK. Tomorrow's
motion would be decided by a draw of lots. In case of a Congress member
being given the chance to move the motion, it would done by Mr. S.
Jaipal Reddy, who incidentally was the first to file notice for a
discussion under Rule 184.
`Opposition unity helped'
Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Balayogi said, ``I am happy we have
reached an agreement and the House can now resume normal business from
tomorrow.'' The Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Madhavrao
Scindia, refused to view it as a defeat for the Government and said
what was paramount that ``democratic principles had been
strengthened''. The party chief whip, Mr. Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, said
the unity ``displayed by the entire Opposition'' helped its view
prevail.
The Government, on its part, said it was prepared for a discussion
under any rule decided by the Speaker. Mr. Mahajan pointed out that it
served the BJP fine to get the issue of the three Ministers discussed
in the House. ``Once the House gives its approval by voting in our
favor, it will be a stamp of approval for the Ministers and nobody can
dare raise it again.''
http://www.hinduonline.com/today/stories/05132511.htm
Flare-up in Gujarat again
GUJARAT SEEMS TO be lurching towards another round of anti- Christian
violence once again. And there is, indeed, an actual indication of a
method in the madness. The various Sangh Parivar outfits in recent
times have been clearly linked to violent attacks against the members
of the Christian community and their places of worship (more
particularly in those parts of the State with a predominantly tribal
population) in Gujarat. The timing of the attacks - a couple of weeks
before Christmas - and the methods adopted - to vandalise places of
worship and thus strike terror among the tribals - are similar to that
witnessed in the State in 1998. There has been no let-up in this
campaign since then. It also emerges that the civil administration and
the police in these places have remained mute witness to the violent
acts and have even been siding with the perpetrators of such violence
on some occasions. Take for instance the incidents involving Bishop
Ezra Sargunam, who also happens to be the Chairman of the Tamil Nadu
State Minorities Commission, in Chhindia village in South Gujarat; he
suffered injury on his person when he decided to protest (in a peaceful
manner) against the desecration of a place of worship in the village.
And it has been reported that the police stood silently, watching the
developments.
The cause for concern in all these is that such violence involving
religious denominations is becoming a way of life in parts of Gujarat
ever since the first such incidents were witnessed in the Dangs
district and in Ahmedabad in December 1998. This, however, is not the
only side to the developments. A cause for a lot more worry is the
attitude of the Government in the State; and particularly the abrasive
remarks and the utterances by the State Home Minister, Mr. Haren
Pandya. Mr. Pandya has hardly made any attempts to conceal his
aggressive espousal of the Hindutva campaign. The effect of this on the
attitude of the civil administration each time the storm troopers of
the Sangh Parivar vandalise a church or terrorise the tribals with a
view to getting them back to the Hindu fold is not far to seek. There
is no way that Mr. Pandya or his colleagues can thrust their private
majoritarian agendas on the citizens of Gujarat especially when they
are vested with the responsibilities of running the affairs of the
State. As members of the Government, Mr. Pandya and his other
colleagues cannot escape their responsibility to ensure to every
citizen the freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion he
or she chooses.
In the same context, Gujarat is not the only State where the members
belonging to the religious minorities are targeted for attacks. There
is indeed a connection with the ascension to power of the BJP-led NDA
at the Centre in March 1998. And fears expressed by a cross-section of
the democratic forces of such violence increasing in the context of the
Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee's utterances during the past week
are not just visceral. After all, Mr. Vajpayee's call for a national
debate on conversions at a time when most parts of the Dangs district
in Gujarat were the scene of anti-Christian violence orchestrated by
bodies that sprang up by the day (and all of them owing allegiance to
the VHP and other such outfits of the Sangh Parivar) did embolden those
very forces. And it is in this context that one finds it necessary to
remind all those in power, both at the Centre and in the various
States, of their duty to ensure that the rights guaranteed by the
Constitution are not trampled upon by a set of storm troopers engaged
in an incendiary campaign conjuring up vicious stereotypes and
imaginary wrongs. In this sense, the Union Government cannot abdicate
its Constitutional responsibility to ensure that the rule of law
prevails in Gujarat.
http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20001213/ina13039.html
Govt agrees to debate and breathes easy in RS
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 12: The seven-day long deadlock in Parliament is
set to end tomorrow. The Government today gave in to the vociferous
Opposition demand for a discussion on its censure motion against Union
ministers L.K.Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti for their
alleged role in the demolition of Babri Masjid. The discussion, which
will include Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's recent remarks on
Ayodhya, has been scheduled under Rule 184 which entails voting.
The Government, however, got a reprieve in the Rajya Sabha, where the
ruling party is in a minority, with the Opposition deciding not to
press for voting there. This apparently was the best deal the
Government could work out with the unrelenting Opposition in order to
break the imbroglio. Vajpayee had a brainstorming session earlier in
the day with Advani, George Fernandes, Pramod Mahajan and a number of
other ministers.
It was no easy task for Speaker G.M.C.Balayogi to hammer out a workable
agreement. The all-party meeting held by him this morning (the second
since yesterday) failed to reach a consensus. The agreement was finally
reached in the third meeting in the afternoon. The Opposition relented
somewhat -- the original notice seeking a censure motion against the
three ministers chargesheeted in the Babri case will now be reworded
since Balayogi had yesterday dismissed the notice in its original form.
He had argued that it went against the principle of collective
responsibility of the Government to the House.
After the hour-long third meeting, Balayogi told reporters ``the House
will take up the issue under Rule 184. The modalities will be worked
out by me.''
The discussion in the Lok Sabha, it is learnt, is likely to start in
the afternoon tomorrow, immediately after zero hour. Before it
culminates in voting, Vajpayee will intervene with his statement.
The Congress plans to take on the BJP and its ``secular'' NDA partners
in tomorrow's debate. The main strategy of the party during the
discussion, said sources, would be to ``isolate and embarrass'' parties
such as the Trinamool and the TDP who have already voiced their
misgivings on the Prime Minister's remarks on Ayodhya.
The Congress has decided to field senior party MP Jaipal Reddy for
initiating the discussion from its side tomorrow if the draw went in
its favour. Reddy had originally moved the notice demanding a
discussion on the resignation of the three chargesheeted ministers in
the Lok Sabha.
The party had moved 45 fresh notices for a discussion under Rule 184
yesterday; the total number of notices moved under this rule by the
Opposition stands is 53.
The notice will be an amalgamation of the notices moved by various
opposition parties, including the Congress, the Left parties, RJD, SP
and BSP. CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee's notice, which is reported to
have included the demand for resignation of the chargesheeted ministers
as well as the Prime Minister's remarks on Ayodhya, will be the basis
on which the wording of the notice will be finalised.
Interestingly, Leader of the Opposition and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi
will not participate in the discussion, voting for which will take
place on Thursday morning. Among the other speakers from the Congress
side will be P R Dasmunshi, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Girija Vyas and Santosh
Mohan Deb.
The Congress has, however, diluted its stand in the Upper House where
the NDA is in a minority. The party in its notice in the Rajya Sabha
has dropped the demand for the resignation of the chargesheeted
ministers but settled for merely ``disapproving the Prime Minister's
remarks on Ayodhya.'' It is also unlikely to press for voting on the
issue.
While Pramod Mahajan represented the Government at the meeting convened
by Balayogi, those from the Opposition included Madhav Rao Scindia
(Congress), Somnath Chatterjee (CPI-M), Mayawati (BSP), Mulayam Singh
Yadav (SP), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) and P.H.Pandian (AIADMK). The
group also included TDP's K.Yerranaidu.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/13home3.htm
</cgi-bin/mailpg.cgi> </cgi-bin/mailpg.cgi>Ministry does some
meddling for Advani
By Akshaya Mukul
The Times of India News Service
NEW DELHI: Much before L K Advani takes the stand at the Liberhan
Commission over the incidents that led to the demolition of the Babri
Masjid, the Union home ministry, which he heads, has got into the
inquisitorial mode.
According to sources, nervous home ministry officials have been asking
the commission, which is technically under them, what kind of questions
will be addressed to Advani when he eventually presents himself.
Enquiries are also being made about the evidence which the commission
has gathered so far, as well as its repercussions on the final report.
The queries have come directly, as well as through feelers. Sources say
the Union home ministry, which till recently was not much involved in
the working of the commission, has started taking a lot of interest
ever since the Ayodhya issue once again came into the political
limelight. Says a commission official, "An attempt is being made by the
home ministry to stonewall the process. We are surprised at this
uncalled for interest."
Though Advani was slated to appear on December 29, he sent an
application on Tuesday asking for a future date for deposing. The
commission has now called him on January 22 and 23, 2001.
Similarly, Uma Bharti who was supposed to depose on Tuesday, failed to
turn up. Now she has been called on December 19. Murli Manohar Joshi
has also asked for a future date and now he will depose on January 15
and 16, 2001.
The commission has also called RSS chief K S Sudarshan on December 20 -
presumably to question him about the new theory that an explosion
caused the demolition of the Babri Masjid - and former West Bengal
chief minister Jyoti Basu on January 29 because, according to news
reports, he had handed over an audio tape of Kalyan Singh's speech to
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, called to testify on December
26 and 27, also filed an application on Tuesday, asking for some other
date. The reason for non-appearance Rao has cited reads like a sadhu's
engagement diary: from December 17 to 20, Rao will be presiding over
the meetings of Swami Ramananda Tirtha Memorial Committee, on December
22 he has to attend the seventh annual aradhana of Jeevan Muktha and
Parasbrahmaswaroopi, the 68th acharya of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Sri
Chandrasekharendra Swaraswathi at Kanchipuram, visit Tirupati between
December 25 and 28 and on December 28 receive the third national
eminence award from Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal in Mumbai.
In the midst of this hide-and-seek drama being played by the dramatis
personae, sources point out that the commission, which has just got a
six-month extension, is in a tearing haste to submit its final report.
They point out that the commission has enough evidence to write a
``solid and substantial report'', even if these leaders don't turn up.
The only hitch, they say, is the non-appearance of Kalyan Singh, the
then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, who has appealed to the Delhi
High Court against the commission's summons.
The evidence so far makes it clear that the state government was a
facilitator in the demolition. ``It acted as the host,'' a source says.
The UP government's refusal to take paramilitary forces also points
that the whole thing was planned down to the last detail. According to
the source, it is also clear that kar seva in July 1992 was a dress-
rehearsal. Whereas when Mulayam Singh wanted to avert damage to the
mosque he could do it. The final report will be based on these facts,
the source adds.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/13mahm1.htm
</cgi-bin/mailpg.cgi> </cgi-bin/mailpg.cgi>Gujarat CM refuses
appointment to Bishop Ezhra
GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel on Tuesday refused
an appointment to Tamil Nadu minority commission chairman Bishop Ezhra
Sargunam, saying the matter pertaining to holding prayers at a chapel
in Chhindia village was sub-judice.
Ezhra, the head of Evangelical Church of India, had wanted an audience
with Patel so as to impress the need to allow the Christians to hold
their prayer meetings at the disputed site, state home minister Haren
Pandya told reporters here.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi had recently sent a fax
message to Patel seeking an appointment for the Bishop, who held a
dharna and a fast at the chapel, which was ransacked by miscreants on
November 26.
The Bishop was refused appointment as the matter was sub-judice, Pandya
said.
He said some communal elements from outside the state were trying to
stir up a controversy when there was none over the disputed chape land
which ostensibly belonged to a private person.
Pandya said the state government was not in the picture but certain
organisations like the All India Christian Council were levelling
baseless allegations against it.
"They are distorting facts to bringing a bad name to the state and its
people," he said. (PTI)
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