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India at 70: Khushwant Singh on why he shuns men like LK Advani

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Khushwant Singh
Khushwant SinghAug 15, 2017 | 10:02

India at 70: Khushwant Singh on why he shuns men like LK Advani

My worry today is the rise of right-wing, fascist parties in the country. The youth of today should be aware of the rise in communal politics and the dangers involved. If we love our country, we have to save it from communal forces. And though the liberal class is shrinking, I do hope that the present generation totally rejects communal and fascist policies. I shun people who are at the forefront of this communalism, and this includes the likes of LK Advani.

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When I had first met Advani, I thought he was forthright and clean and able. So we kept in touch. In 1989, he chose me to file his papers for nomination to Parliament, and I supported him by proposing his name as MP from New Delhi. I set my hopes on him because Sikhs were targeted by the Congress in 1984 and Advani seemed to be the only choice. Advani cashed in, and there were photos and banners and what not. But my disillusionment began when he started fouling the atmosphere of the country.

The one event that pitchforked Advani to centre stage and reshaped India’s politics was his rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, leading to the destruction of the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992. He, more than anyone else, sensed that Islamophobia was deeply ingrained in the minds of millions of Hindus; it only needed a spark to set it ablaze. The choice of Somnath as the starting point and Ayodhya as the terminal one was well-calculated.

Mahmud Ghazni had destroyed the temple at Somnath; Ayodhya was believed to be the birthplace of Sri Ram — it was bruited about that a temple to mark the birth site had stood there till Babur destroyed it and built a mosque over the ruins.

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Did he regret the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat? If so, why did he protect Narendra Modi from being sacked, as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee evidently wanted? Photo: PTI

This is disputed by historians and the matter was being pursued in law courts. Advani ignored legal niceties and arrived with great fanfare at the site. Since he was determined to build a new Ram temple at the same spot, the fate of the mosque was sealed. What happened there on that fateful day was seen on television by millions of people round the globe.

And the repercussions were felt over the world. Hindu and Sikh temples were targeted by irate Muslims from Bangladesh to the UK. There were communal confrontations in different parts of India: the serial blasts in Bombay, the attack on the Sabarmati Express in Godhra, the massacre of innocent Muslims in Gujarat — they can all be traced back to the fall of the Babri Masjid. Relations between Hindus and Muslims have never been the same in India. However, the BJP reaped a rich harvest, won many of the elections that followed and eventually installed Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister and LK Advani as his deputy.

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Extraordinary Indians; Khushwant Singh; Rs 499; Aleph Book Company

Advani claims that breaking the mosque was not on his agenda; that he actually sent Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati to plead with those who went on the rampage to desist. If that is so, why were the two seen embracing each other and rejoicing when the nefarious task was completed? We don’t need the verdict of the Liberhan Commission to tell us what happened — we saw it with our own eyes. And, in his memoir, Advani recorded the jubilation that followed at the site, along with his triumphal return to Delhi. At an event at the IIC, I told Advani to his face, in front of an audience, "You have sowed the seeds of communal disharmony in the country and we are paying the price for it."

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BJP veteran LK Advani leading the Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath in 1990. Source: Twitter/Indian History Pics

The one time Advani faltered in his steps was when he visited Karachi and praised Jinnah’s speech to the Pakistan Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947 as "a classic exposition of a secular state". It might well have been so, but Jinnah’s speech was delivered at a time when millions of Hindus and Sikhs were being driven out of Pakistan or being slaughtered, and an equal number of Muslims were being driven out of India. It was a bloody exchange in which more than a million died and over ten million were uprooted. Advani’s eulogy must have pleased Pakistanis; it was badly received in India, particularly by his colleagues in the RSS and the BJP.

Advani should have left the political scene in a blaze of glory; but not many tears will be shed for him now. And for good reason. Did he ever regret the role he played in the demolition of the Babri Masjid? If he did, as he claims, why did he not tender an apology? Did he regret the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat? If so, why did he protect Narendra Modi from being sacked, as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee evidently wanted? It was a symbiotic relationship between the two — Modi helped Advani win elections from Gandhinagar; Advani, in turn, exonerated him from the anti-Muslim pogrom charges of 2002. Is it possible that as home minister Advani did not know of Jaswant Singh’s mission to Kandahar to swap three jihadi militants for 150-odd Indians held hostage in hostile territory?

There cannot be an iota of truth in his statement that he knew nothing about Jaswant’s mission till it was over. Advani once described Manmohan Singh as "nikamma" — useless. It so happens that Manmohan is still very much in use, whereas Advani’s own erstwhile colleagues have pronounced him of no use any longer.

Advani has done grievous harm to our efforts to create a truly secular India. I have no regret over his discomfiture and eventual fadeout from national politics — it will be as comic a tragedy as any we have witnessed in recent times.

(Excerpted with permission from Aleph Book Company.)

Last updated: November 08, 2018 | 13:42
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