December 6, 1992 will go in Indian history as one of the darkest days, as on this day, a reputed house of God, Babri Masjid, was razed to ground, by the Sangh Parivar’s hoodlums in broad daylight, under the glare of TV cameras. The then President of India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, gave vent to the sentiments of common Indian gentle people, when he commented that it was the greatest tragedy after the murder of the Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. It is no coincidence that both acts were committed by the same mentality which believes in ‘hate and make others hate’.
The then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who did not even wink when the dastardly destruction of Babri Masjid was going on, and perhaps even did not miss his midday siesta, addressed the shocked nation and promised that what had been destroyed would be reconstructed. The later events proved that he was not sincere in his promise and did not mean what he said. He died without fulfilling his promise which he made to more than 100 crore Indians and which was heard by the whole world. His government and his administrative machinery were the silent spectators of destruction of a House of God in the hands of unruly elements of RSS-BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal, etc. Mr. Narasimha Rao presented the worst example of dereliction of duty, suspense of will and paralysis of resolve.
Mr. L.K. Advani, the then president of BJP, was the main architect of this desecration. He prepared ground for this vile act through his cross-country rath yatra. You can replay the video cassettes and listen to his infamous refrain during his poison-filled, hatred-promoting yatra: Is liye ham yeh kahte hain / Mandir wahin banayenge.
Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi was jubilant when brick by brick the House of God was being brought to ground. Uma Bharati, who prefers to don the dress of a sanyasin, was mad with joy when the destruction was completed and flung herself on Mr. Joshi’s shoulders in a fit of rapturous excitement. India would never be able to erase from its collective memory these shameful events.
The whole nation and the entire world were watching in horror the enactment of this sordid drama with subdued anger and utter dejection. Later on, even the hardcore Advani could not help repenting his heinous doings by conceding that ‘that was the saddest day of my life’. No one is ready to accept his words on face value as he continued to repeat what he had been saying previously. There was no shred of genuine remorse on his part. Therefore his words were rejected by civil society as sheer hypocrisy. On that fateful day Indian democracy and multi-culturalism were put to test. It was the day of a great battle between broadmindedness and bigotry, democracy and fascism and humanity and barbarism. On that day all that is good in human nature was subdued and devil had his last laugh. It was a day dedicated to devil.
But civil society did not take things lying down. It immediately swung into action, reasserted itself and resolved to fight the forces of parochialism and hatred. The war is still on. The world is watching earnestly to see who wins the war.
Every Indian who is concerned with the future of the country is keenly waiting for the outcome of the Liberhan Commission. The Allahabad High Court’s proceedings are also being patiently watched by every justice-loving citizen. No body knows when the ends of justice are met and this long wait for justice comes to an end.
Let us hope that finally justice would be done and the perpetrators of this heinous crime of destruction of the Holy House of God would be punished appropriately. Exemplary punishment would act as a deterrent for all mischievous minds.