Babri Masjid demolition case: Hard times ahead for Joshi, Advani, Bharti and others
The framing of criminal charges against top Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders - Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others - by the special CBI court on May 30, 2017 could completely jeopardise whatever little is remaining of their political career.
In fact, 88-year-old Advani stands to lose the most as he may be compelled to abandon his much talked about ambition to join the presidential race, due in about a month from now. Also, Murli Manohar Joshi, the 83-year-old BJP veteran who was seen as yet another aspirant for the country’s top job, would find it difficult to push his own case on account of the formal framing of the charges against him.
Strictly speaking, the law does not disentitle either of them from contesting any election, but the latest development is bound to build much moral pressure on them to give up their presidential ambitions. After all, both Advani and Joshi already stood badly marginalised ever since Narendra Modi went on to become the prime minister in May 2014.
Both were conveniently eased out of mainstream politics under the new formula of keeping the 75-plus out of actual theatre of electioneering and governance. Thus, both were made “respected” members of the much hyped but ultimately toothless “Margdarshak Mandal”.
Election of the India’s next President is due next month as the present incumbent Pranab Mukherjee steps down from his office in July 2017.
The fate of Union minister Uma Bharti may also now hang in the balance as the framing of charges against her is likely to provoke the Opposition to seek her removal from the Narendra Modi cabinet, “on the same moral grounds”.
Interestingly, even as Uma Bharti and fellow accused like Bajrang Dal founder Vinay Katiyar, had been publicly going about making no bones about their involvement in the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, they took a completely different stand before the court today. However, while rejecting their applications seeking discharge from the case, the special CBI court granted bail to each of the accused, including Bharti, Joshi and Advani.
Charged under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and section 153 -A (inciting communal passions through inflammatory speeches) of the Indian Penal Code, they will now face trial, which, under the Supreme Court’s direction, has to be completed within two years. However, whether it would be possible to accomplish the completion of the trial in the stipulated time is a million-dollar question.
Earlier, the trial that was going on against 49 accused persons in two separate special courts – in Lucknow and Rae Bareli – will now be carried out in the unified court in Lucknow. Despite the SC direction, it may be quite a tall order to expect the trial to get over in just two years, considering the past experience.
In all there were 49 accused in the two cases – 22 facing trial in Rae Bareli and 27 in Lucknow. While one of the Rae Bareli accused died during the pendency of the trial, five of the Lucknow accused too passed away over the years.
More importantly, a large number of witnesses are yet to depose and be cross-examined. The Rae Bareli court, handling the top BJP leaders’ cases, had examined 57 of the 131 witnesses listed by the CBI, while the Lucknow court, dealing with the trial of the 22 remaining accused, has completed the examination of barely 195 of the 895 witnesses.
Top lawyers in Lucknow were of the view that the case could go on for many more years. Already, three of the key accused have died during the pendency of the case, while criminal proceedings against former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh would be initiated only after he demits the office of Rajasthan governor.
A quarter of a century has already passed since the mosque was razed to the ground. Therefore, all that today’s framing of criminal charges against the accused could really have an impact on is the immediate political future of BJP bigwigs like Advani and Joshi, who were clearly known to be aspiring for the President’s post.
Meanwhile, there were two schools of thought within the BJP on the other aspect of bringing Ayodhya back to the centre-stage of Indian politics. One section believes in keeping a low profile until the issue is finally settled by the trial court, where Advani and other accused VIPs will now be tried like lesser mortals facing similar charges of being part of a larger criminal conspiracy.
The other section feels that the time is ripe to once again make political capital out of the Ayodhya issue in the run up to Assembly elections in certain states in 2018, as well as in the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
What is, however, being overlooked is the ground reality of the Ayodhya controversy as it stands today. Looking back, it has been increasingly evident how the political potential of the issue has been fading away over the past 25 years, since the contentious structure was demolished by an angry mob of karsevaks on December 6, 1992.
The case itself has witnessed many ups and downs on account of political upheavals, slow prosecution processes and a lethargic judicial system. It would be rather far-fetched to assume that the Ayodhya card could still pay political dividends.