Babri Masjid demolition: SC issues notice to BJP leader L K Advani, 19 others. Tough times ahead for BJP?

By Deepak Parvatiyar

April 1, 2015

It is impossible to find the embers of communal politics dying even after over twenty-three years of the demolition of the 16th century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya by the right-wing ultras in the presence of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and  Uma Bharti.

On 31 March, the Supreme Court issued notices to senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and eighteen others following a petition against the dropping of conspiracy charges against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

With a quirk of irony, the court move was made just a day after Advani was awarded Padma Vibhushan – India’s second highest civilian award.

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It may be mentioned that two First Information Reports were filed with the police against the BJP leaders after the demolition of the mosque. The first FIR mentioned involvement of “lakhs of unknown kar sevaks (volunteers)”, while the second FIR specifically named the BJP leaders inciting the mob by making inflammatory speeches at the site of incident. The two cases were merged and handed over to the CBI, which filed a composite charge-sheet in October, 1993.

CBI had then charge-sheeted Advani and 20 others under sections 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc. circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace) of the Indian Penal Code. It had subsequently invoked charges under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.

Eight years later, in 2001, a lower court dropped the conspiracy charge against the leaders on the ground that the case related only to the volunteers who razed the mosque. Thereafter, it took almost ten more years when in 2010, the Allahabad High Court dropped conspiracy charges against the BJP leaders for the demolition of the mosque.

The present court notices on Advani, Joshi and others have been issued following a petition by Haji Mahboob Ahmed, a defendant in the Ayodhya lawsuit, who wanted those charges to be reinstated and feared the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) “might dilute its stand after the change in government…”

It may be mentioned that the CBI had moved the apex court nearly nine months after the high court verdict on February 18, 2011, and at a time when the United Progressive Alliance was in power in Centre. The apex court pulled up the CBI for the delay and asked it to convince the court why the appeal was filed so late.

Yet, the Ayodhya issue has become a prima casa of the involvement of the high and mighty,  long judicial process, and painstakingly slow pace of inquiries. Consider that a few of the respondents including Giriraj Kishore and Mahant Avaidyanath are no more and their names will be taken off as in the case of another accused, the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray!

Given the enduring legal process and political complications, it seems to be an ever-escalating game of chicken between the executives, judiciary and legislature as well.

There is no doubt that the BJP benefitted immensely from the demolition of the mosque, which created an unprecedented rift in society along communal lines. Consider how the tenor of elections campaigns had changed drastically by 1991 and the focus changed from “Garibi Hatao” to “Mandal Versus Kamandal” in the 1991 elections that culminated into the demolition of the Babri mosque on 6 December 1992. This polarisation was complete following the vigorous pursuit of a Hindutva agenda of the BJP that sought a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a Uniform Civil Code and the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, and the resulting protests by the Muslim bodies (refer tohttp://www.elections.in/blog/electioneering-campaign-in-india/).

Advani, with his Ramjanmabhoomi Rath Yatra (Chariot Journey) was the indisputable architect of his so-called Hindu renaissance. Through his exploits (read Rath Yatra), he had single-handedly catapulted to the BJP to a position of reckoning. Yet, his divisive politics projected him as a sectarian leader and this paved the way for Atal Behari Vajpayee – perceived more moderate than Advani – to be the Prime Minister when the BJP finally came to power in 1996 for 13 days, 1998-1999 for 13 months, and thereafter in 1999 for a full term!

There was no doubt that the Ayodhya episode turned out to be a double-edged sword for Advani.  He had to remain contented with the position of the deputy prime minister under Vajpayee. When the BJP finally projected him as its PM face in 2009, the voters overwhelmingly rejected him. In 2014 elections, he was completely sidelined as a new leadership under the stewardship of Narendra Modi had emerged within the BJP, which swept the polls on a development plank. His as well as Joshi’s marginalisation was complete when after retaining power in 2014, the BJP dropped them from the party’s all powerful Parliamentary Board and instead included them in a specially created Marg Darshak Mandal along with (an ill) Vajpayee.

Advani did try for a mid-term course correction in his image when he praised the Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah during his Pakistan visit in 2005. But that was a little too late. In fact, his move only irked the BJP’s parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, as this sudden somersault of Advani did not conform to the Sangh’s stated position on Jinnah. Thus, Advani’s decline continued.

So the question that emerges is how the latest court notices are going to have any impact on the BJP’s as well as Advani’s prospects?
One thing is for sure that Advani, now in his late eighties, is well past his prime. So is Joshi. The others who have been served the notice – and that include union minister Uma Bharti – don’t face the dilemma of an image makeover whatsoever.  In any case, the BJP and its government are in the firm grip of Prime Minister Modi, and recent instances have proved, his ministers matter only to an extent that he would like them to.

As far as the court notices are concerned, they are part of a legal process. What though is important is that the apex court has refused to dismiss the plea to drop the conspiracy charge against the BJP leaders. This, indeed, is no good news for Advani and the BJP. The long and arduous legal battle will continue
!